The Muggle, The Greasy Git, and The Proud Wizard
by FA91
Summary: Claire Rollins is a poor and penniless Muggle who had just received a devastating news of her parents' death. As if it wasn't enough, her scholarship to pursue her degree was being rejected and her apartment's landlord threatened to kick her out. Just as Claire was about to make a very regretful decision, she met with two men who claimed to be wizards from the Wizarding World..."
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1: The Muggle, The Geasy Git and The Proud Wizard.**

 **THE** smell of a hot roasted coffee was a bless, especially if one was having it first thing in the morning. Claire Rollin inhaled deeply her freshly brewed cup of coffee, and let out a satisfied sigh. Sitting comfortably on her study desk in the room, with papers and reference books everywhere within her sight, Claire couldn't help but to think life couldn't get any better than this.

Claire slowly raised the cup to her mouth to take a little sip of her coffee, when something had nearly made her spilled the coffee on the desk and thus, ruined her newly cleaned white t-shirt－a loud moan came from one of the rented room in the apartment, beside her private room.

Claire hissed at the hot coffee spilled on her shirt and some part of her right hand. She got up and rushed to the bathroom, to the sink and turned on the cold tab water to wash away the coffee stained on her hand and to cool down the heat.

All the while she was doing so, the disturbing noises came from the rented room grew louder by seconds, much to Claire's great annoyance. Washing her hands with soap, before drying it with a clean cloak, Claire made her way to the rented room, fully prepared to give the room's resident half of her mind for ruining her peace first thing in the morning.

She knocked the next room's door hard, rapidly and loudly.

"No one is interested in listening to your early morning activities, Lucius Malfoy. Kindly drop it or keep it DOWN!"

And then she stomped away, to the kitchen where breakfast was served.

"Tough day already?"

"How can you stand hearing that every single morning?"

"That's because I've put on a Silence Charm in my bedroom every night. Perhaps you would like one in yours too?"

Claire rolled her eyes. "Thank you for TELLING this to me up until now! Honestly Severus Snape, you really are a mean person." She narrowed her eyes at the black greasy haired older man with a baritone voice, smirking at her, before taking her seat at the small rounded dining table in the kitchen.

Claire looked at the delicious pancakes served by the older man and nodded her head rapidly in approval. Taking the honey bottle on the table, she poured it all over her pancakes before offering to do the same for her house mate.

"Thank you." The man nodded.

Claire acknowledged his thanks, picked up her fork and began to eat silently.

Who would have a thought that she would be having a decent meal WITH Severus Snape, the most hated and despicable Potion Master from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Wizarding World of all the people and survived afterwards?

If anyone from the Wizarding World witnessed this scene, they would surely think the war had changed the ever so mean Potion Master for the better.

For Claire Rollins, she had never been one to believe in anything related to supernatural. She was the type of person who believed strongly that if she could touch something and see it, then it was real.

Which was why when the first time she met the two men who had claimed they were Wizards from the Wizarding World, Claire had broke into a laughing fit, thinking not only did she was at the edge of losing her sanity, but these two men before her were crazier than her!

It wasn't until Severus had shown her through _Legilimency Spell_ , that instantly made Claire believed what they were saying was true. She found out later that the two Wizards, were one of the many survivors from a recent Wizarding War known as the Battle of Hogwarts.

Both had claimed they were pardoned from the executions and punishments they'd been responsible for in the Battle, and left the Wizarding World after the trials with hope to rebuild their new lives away from the harsh and painful memories.

For Severus Snape, after he'd almost died from being bitten by a gigantic snake, he desperately wanted a new start after being both a spy and a servant to the once fearsome Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort, and also, to the greatest and powerful Wizard in his time, Albus Dumbledore, for more than decades.

For the once proud and veined Lucius Malfoy who was also, the Patriarch of the Malfoy's Fortunes, having to lose his beloved wife in the war had hit him harder than anything he'd been through. In his grief for his wife, he'd chosen to abandon everything and left the Wizarding World－leaving his only son to manage the Malfoy's business in his absent.

"Ah, before I forget," Severus waved his wand and a gold pouch appeared before them on the table.

"I'd went to the Gringotts Wizarding Bank yesterday and had it exchanged the currency. That should be enough to pay for this month's rent and on top of that, buy our monthly supplies as well. "

Claire frowned at the pouch laying on the table before her. She turned her attention back to her half-eaten pancakes.

"I'll pay my own share, Severus. You know that. Besides, this is more than just for a monthly supplies, isn't it? You're paying for _him_ too, didn't you?"

Severus sighed heavily. "Miss Rollins-"

"Don't you 'Miss Rollins' me, Snape!" She pointed the edge of the sharp fork at him. Snape raised an eyebrow but didn't say or do anything. He simply crossed his hands over the chest and allowed the young woman to continue with her rants.

"It's been five _freakin'_ months! How long does he plans on grieving for his dead wife like this? It's not even _healthy!_ Bringing home bimbos whom he'd picked up on the street every night, why, he might as well helps us out with the money issues we're currently facing here!"

"Losing someone you greatly loved is not an easy process to heal, Miss Rollins. It takes a long time to recover and to be able to pick yourself up again. Lucius just needs some time. He'll get over it soon."

Claire chewed thoughtfully at the last piece of her pancakes.

"It's not that I'm don't pity him,Severus. I am and I do still. It's just that, he's been taking those bimbos out to fancy restaurants, wasting money on them on expensive gifts and whatnot, while the two of us are forced to save our savings and eat the yesterday's meals and canned food! It's so unfair. I don't even expect him to clean up the house, but will it kills him to contribute his share of the rent and maybe, shared a bit of his good fortunes with us?"

Severus sighed again. He waved his wand and the two dirty plates went to the sinks and washed themselves.

Claire sighed heavily. As much as she liked to watch the magic he used in her presence, she was certainly not in the mood to be fascinated by it this morning.

Severus stood up, brushing for any lints stuck on his dark blue long sleeves turtle-neck sweater. He stared at the young Muggle who was still fuming over the money issue.

"Miss Rollins, regardless how you felt about Lucius, I must insist you use the money I've given you to pay the rent for the _three_ of us and buy all the necessarily supplies we need. Now, I would love to stay here and chat more with you, however, I do have classes to teach." Severus pitched the bridge of his nose. Already he felt a migraine was coming even before he leave this place.

If the students whom he'd taught in Potions at Hogwarts, whom he'd often referred to as 'dunderheads', and had the pleasure of punishing them whenever they made mistakes had made his Hogwarts days miserable, the Muggle students whom he now taught in Chemistry was even more worse!

The only thing Severus Snape was thankful for while teaching those idiotic Muggles was that no explosions or magical side-effects would occur in the Chemistry lessons.

Claire chuckled heartedly at Severus' hard facial expression. She knew exactly what went on through his head; she saw it every morning before he left for work. Her chuckles had earned her a playful glare from the brooding man. Times like this, it made the burdens on her shoulders a bit lighter to know that ever since she had established a friendship in Severus since he became her housemate, her workloads had decreased rapidly.

It wasn't easy, to say at the very least, to make friends with Severus Snape and gained his trust and respect. He was a very private man who would only speak when spoken to. It taken Claire three months to be exact, to earn his trust and finally, gained his respect.

Claire remember exactly how it happened; how she first befriended with Severus Snape.

It was on the third months since they had became house-mates. Claire had been staying up late to write a report when she heard a sound, a low murmuring sound coming from the next door.

At first, she'd simply ignored it.

It wasn't any of her business to meddle whatever her house-mates do in their own private room.

But as the time passed by, the low murmuring sound became louder and soon, it turned to a loud shout that Claire could made up the words through the thin walls in the silence of the night.

" _No... My Lord.. Please..."_

That got her indeed curious. Claire got up from her seat and made her way to Snape's room. She took in the dark, still debating whether she should be standing here in the first place.

Eventually, Claire had decided it was best to knock on the door and got it over with.

" _Mister Snape?"_ Claire had gently knocked on the door again. _"Is everything okay, Mister Snape?"_

When there had been no sound on the other side of the door, Slowly, she'd turned the knob. Claire had been surprised he didn't locked it at night.

Ah well. It's not as if she had any intention of coming to a grown man's private room late at night after all.

Claire was merely wondered why he chose to leave his room unlocked that's all.

His room was dark, but she could still made out a few stuff in there with the help the little light from the moon. Like, the forest green curtains hanging by the window to the right, the study desk filled with organized parchments and (is that a quill on his desk?), and also black and red inks.

On his bed itself, was a small cupboard where he kept a table lamp, digital clock and also a half-empty bottle of red whiskey.

But that hadn't been the room that caught her attention at that time.

It was the man on the bed.

He had been struggling in his sleep. Beads of sweat on his forehead. His hands on his throat, as if he was choking himself.

Claire had rushed over to the bed. She carefully tapped him on the shoulder, waking him up from his nightmare.

" _Mister Snape, wake up! Wake up, Snape!"_

Severus opened his eyes in panicked. Without any warning, he summoned his wand and launched curse spells at her.

" _Expalliarmus! Stupefy!"_

At a close distance, the pains from the curses were unbearable. Before Claire knew what was going on, her world had turned to a total blank.

When Claire woke up a moment later, she found herself on the bed, in his room with the table light on the small cupboard beside the bed had been switched on.

Severus was sitting on the chair beside the bed. His eyes, filled between fear and anger. They had been staring at her even before she woken up.

" _Why are you here, Miss Rollins?"_ His voice was cold and unkind. It'd actually made her flinched a little bit.

" _You, made me came here actually."_

" _Explain."_ Severus raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms on the chest.

Claire sighed. _"I was doing some work in my room when I'd heard murmurs coming from your room. Initially, I'd thought of ignoring it, but the murmurs grew louder and eventually became a shout. I'm surprised your 'friend' didn't wake up. You were actually quite loud."_

" _I see."_ Severus spoke after a long pause.

He uncrossed his hands and handed her two types of portions; Calming Draught and Blood Replenishing. He'd then proceeded and told her to take them as soon as possible.

After she had reluctantly drank the potions, Severus gave her a final glance before he stood up and said, _"You may rest in here for tonight, Miss Rollins. I apologised for disturbing and on top of that, hurting you in the first place. Rest assure it will not happen again."_

" _Now hold on a minute here!"_ Claire got up from the bed. _"This is your bed and this is your bedroom. I'm should be the one who leave, not you!"_

" _No."_ Severus shook his head. _"I insist. You've been through something that usually a Muggle would not have survived. Yet you did, at such a close range nevertheless. Bear in mind, it's not my intention to keep you in my bed all night long, Miss Rollins. I'm just simply taking precautions, just in case there are any side-effects to the curse."_

" _Fine. Where are you going to sleep then? There's isn't any space left on this single bed."_

" _You don't need to worry about me, Miss Rollins."_ Severus walked to the edge of the bed. With a wave of his wand, he transformed the book shelves on her left, to a simple makeshift bed.

" _Now rest. Merlin knows you need one."_ He switched off the light again, with a wave of his wand.

Claire rolled her eyes at his comment and slide her down to the comfort of the bed. _His bed._ Indeed, she had been feeling sleepy before Severus disturbed her. Closing her eyes, Claire remembered something that might just helped him got over with his nightmares and sat up.

" _Mister Snape?"_

" _What, Miss Rollins?" C_ ame a tired tone from the man.

" _Um.. You know the nightmares you had a while ago? It's not the first time, you know. You've been doing that ever since you came here."_

" _My apologies for causing such grief and disturbance to your peaceful nights, Miss Rollins. I will be sure not to disturb you in the near future then."_

" _That's not what I meant! Listen, I may be able to provide you something to ease the nightmare. That is, if you would allow me to..."_

She could heard him sighed heavily in the darkness beside her.

" _I doubt whatever you had in mind could possibly be the cure to end my long-time nightmares, Miss Rollins. Now if you don't mind, I would like to get some sleep."_

" _Judge me all you want, Mister Snape, but I do believe what you need is a human contact. Here, I'll show you."_

" _Merlin's Beard, woman! Go to sleep! What makes you think you could-"_ Before he could finished his words, Severus felt a soft hand reached out and clamped his hand with hers.

Severus was stunned and speechless.

Here was a young woman, half his own age, was holding onto his hand like it was nothing. Nobody dared to do that to him.

No women ever dared to touch him. They all feared him.

" _When I was a child, I often had nightmares. My mother would held on to my hand each night as I went to sleep. It actually worked. The nightmares eventually ended and I was able to sleep by my own."_ Claire looked at his direction with a small smile. _"Sometimes what you need the most is just a simple human touch, Mister Snape. I may not know you well enough, and I highly doubt whatever visions that you'd shown me was enough to know who you really are, but at the very least, let me offer you something: a friendship. You look like you desperately need one."_

 _A friendship._ That he wanted so much but never had the chance. He had it once, but he'd lose his friendship with Lily Evans because of his own stupidity.

Not only had he lose her friendship, he'd lose her as a person to love as well.

Slowly, Severus curled his fingers around her.

He could do this again.

He could try to open up his heart and build a friendship. Hopefully, this time, it would last. After all, he did want to start a new life in the Muggle World.

If this young woman was willing to offer her friendship to him, honestly, how bad could he possible be?

That was how their friendship begun.

In time and slowly, they developed a strong bond.

Each night, before he drifted to sleep, Severus would hold on to her hand and opened up about his bad childhood past little by little, and his life as the infamous 'greasy git' Professor at Hogwarts.

Claire in return, had opened up about her own past to him; of her parents, her friends and her life back at the University. Her heartbreak over her parents' death and disappointment for not be able to pursue her studies.

The two of them continuously to built their friendship over the months. Though sometimes they did clashed with each other's opinions and ideas, it allowed them to understand even more of each other's strengths and weaknesses.

It allowed them to grow.

Together, they've formed a strong friendship and built a trust between them.

 **CLAIRE** let a very unladylike yawn and covered a hand on her mouth. She rubbed her eyes for the tenth times as she reread the reports she'd done earlier over and over again before clinking the 'Send' button and have it delivered to the Editor of the Daily Newspaper.

Working as a freelance columnist for the Daily Newspaper had allowed her to spend more time at home and take care what need to be done. Claire enjoyed tremendously the time she had at home alone.

Except on Fridays and Saturdays.

On Friday, Claire had to leave her comfort home and worked as a waitress at _Thomas's Deli_ across the street from her apartment. Then, on Saturdays, she would be doing her part-time job as a salesperson at a retailed shop in London.

Severus would often picked her up from her part time job due to the late night hour shift and far away distance from home. Ever since they befriended, he had been watching over her like a hawk.

Claire had even referred him to her fellow colleagues and friends as her 'Protective Uncle' whenever he dropped by at her working place.

Which earned her a playful death glare from the man and chuckles from her friends and colleagues.

Stretching her arms, Claire got up from her seat and was halfway heading to the loo when her mobile phone started to ring crazily.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Claire. How are you doing? Listen, I know today is your day off from work, but Cassidy took an emergency leave. Her sister is giving birth. I was wondering if you could come and cover her shift for tonight? I'll even pay you double!" said Mr Doyle, her Boss at the Deli.

"Sure thing, Boss."

"Oh, wonderful! Thanks a bunch, love! See you later tonight then!" He hung up quicker than Claire could say 'bye', before she rushed to her destination before she was rudely interrupted.

Claire closed her phone and turned it to a Silent Mode. She had informed Severus about her working at the Deli tonight and that she had prepared dinner before leaving the apartment.

The time now was eight o'clock sharp at night. The Deli, was fully packed with hungry customers. Claire was dressed in white long sleeved and collared t-shirt and a long black shirt, matched with a pair of black low-heels sandals.

As always, she was always attentive to the customers who need her attentions. When she was bringing two plates of hot meals to a couple seating at the furthest table at the back where it was more private to dine, she was shocked to find who the couple were.

Brown eyes met with dark grey eyes who also looked into her in the same shock state that she was currently in. Neither of them talked until a faint cough disrupted them.

"Lucius, do you perhaps know this girl?" said a young woman irritatingly.

Lucius was the first to break the gaze and coughed lightly. "Yes. She is one of the people I'm currently living with."

"I see." The tone that the woman used, indicated she was clearly not impressed.

"I-I'm sorry!" Claire apologised and served their meals. She then straightened her back. With a clear and professional voice, she asked the couple if they need anything else before she leave.

"No. That will be all, thank you."

"Please enjoy your meals then, Sir. Madam."

Claire walked away discreetly as fast as she could. Once she reached to the counter, away from Lucius' sharp gaze, she broke to a laughing fit.

"What? What?" asked Marina, her best friend and colleague. "What got you so worked up, love?"

Claire took a long deep breath. A wide smile spread across her lips. "I know how much he values his bimbos now!"

Marina raised an eyebrow. "Who and what are we talking about here?"

Claire rolled her eyes and pointed where Lucius and his date were seated. Both didn't looked too happy with each other.

"Oh, your _Uncle_ is here? He's the least favourite one, right?"

"Yes. A proud Malfoy like Lucius would rather killed himself than to dine in a place like this! He's the fancy type kind of man after all."

"Okay. So what got you all worked up?"

"Look at the bimbo! Clearly, he doesn't value her that much if he takes her to eat in a place like this! The bimbo I met this morning, I'd heard from Snape that he took her to a five star hotel in London. Honestly, such a prick!"

Marina sighed and tapped her friend's head. "You've finally lost it haven't you, my dear? Oh, poor baby! Living with two grown men have finally made you lose your nerves!"

Claire rolled her eyes again. "Marina, you're exaggerating!"

"You clearly need to get yourself a boyfriend, Claire Rollins! Ever since your Uncles been staying at your place, they're all you talked about! I know you adored your Uncles, but you need someone to take your mind off them! Now, remind me again how the three of you are related? Why haven't I heard any of them before? I've been your best friend since when we were babies!"

Claire took a deep breath. "They're my paternal uncles. Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy are my father's uncle's cousins. Twice removed. It's pretty complicated to explain to outsiders of the family, really. The very reason why you never heard any of them before is because our family and theirs aren't close." Claire lied.

"Okay. So, how did you met them? Or did they met you?"

"Apparently when the news of my parents' accident reached to the rest of the family, Snape and Malfoy were already in London. They came to the funeral and offered to help me with anything. When I'd told them about the debt I'm in with the renting and all, they'd agreed to move in with me for two reason; one, Snape who was a Chemist, had decided to switch his career to become a teacher. Whereas, Malfoy is a successful Entrepreneur. " A _stingy, miserable Git._

Claire forced a smile to her friend. "Basically, they both were in need for a place to stay. As it happened, I have two empty rooms. So, they moved in."

"That's nice of them. At least you have relatives staying with you. Especially during hard time like these." Marina gave her a one arm hug. "But I know you Claire Rollins. You are brave and wise young woman. No matter what happens, you can get through anything if you put your mind into it!"

"Thanks, Marina." Claire smiled warmly at the support. Later, she took out her mobile phone and very discreetly, snapped a picture of Lucius and his date before sending it over to Severus.

About a minute or two later, she received a reply from him.

' _He seems to be very unhappy.'_

Claire replied, _'Serves the miserable Git right.'_

' _That is hardly a nice thing to say.'_

' _Shush you! By the way, Severus, did you checked the mails today? Is there any letters for me from Holland?'_

' _Yes. From one Amanda Richard. A friend of yours?'_

' _Sort of. I'll talk to you later. The bloody Git is calling.'_

' _Be nice.'_

Claire walked over to Lucius table. With a steady smile, she asked him, "How may I help you, Sir?"

"Yes. The bill, please."

"Right away, Sir."

Before Claire could walk away, his date asked her where the restroom was.

Claire returned in less than a minute later with the bill and handed it over to Lucius.

"It's funny to see you here of all the places, Miss Rollins. I don't know how much they pay you, but the food here is rather _distasteful._ " He threw in the money.

Claire gave him a subtle glare as she calculated the money and took it.

No change.

Clearing her throat, Claire replied politely.

"Perhaps _you_ should consider eating elsewhere in the future, Mister Malfoy, if the food here is not up to your standards. To be frankly honest, I'm still in shock to see a man of your status taking his date, a brunette, to dine in a place like this. After all, you'd dined at a five stars hotel last night with a gorgeous blonde. Finally decided to be thrifty?"

A hard fist landed on his table, and immediately caught everyone's attention.

Lucius gritted his teeth.

"What I'm doing with my personal life is none of your business, Miss Rollins. It'd be wise for you if you keep your mouth shut about it or else risk of having to deal with unfortunate consequences, _Miss Rollins._ "

Lucius stood up and glared sharply at her, before he walked toward his date, who was busily looking herself through the compact mirror.

He wrapped one hand around her waist and left the Deli.

Claire stared at the empty space.

Had she just being threatened by Lucius Malfoy; ex-Death Eater, terrorist and also a powerful Wizard?

Opening her mobile phone in a rush, she quickly typed a message to Severus.

' _I think I'm in need of a protection.'_

He replied in less than a minute. _'What happened?'_

' _Lucius Malfoy has just threatened me.'_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: A Truce and Friendship**

 **CLAIRE** returned home around midnight later that night, after a long and hard night shift. She shut and locked the main door before entering the small living room. She headed to the kitchen and fetch a glass before pouring a cold water into it.

Sighing blissfully as the cold water ran down her throat, Claire bought one hand over the back of her neck for a little massage when the kitchen's light suddenly switched on.

 _"Severus!_ You gave me a fright!" Claire had one hand on her chest, eyes widened at the dark haired man dressed in a robe, and seated near the kitchen's table.

Severus raised an eyebrow at the Muggle's statement, while internally trying not to smirk. He gave her a fright? Of course. It seems he still hasn't lost his touch to scare away people with only his presence.

Clearing his throat, Severus made a gesture for her to take a seat.

"Miss Rollins."

"Severus." Claire sat down.

Crossing his arms, he stared at the young woman. "Would you mind telling me what happened between you and Lucius earlier?"

Claire chose to look at her fingernails, suddenly found them so interesting to look at.

A frustrated groan came from the man sitting before her.

"Miss Rollins, unless you tell me what happened, I refused to put up the so-called protection spell you'd asked me for. Bear in mind, should you still refuse to tell me, I will not hesitate to use _Legilimency_ on you." Threatening words came out from his mouth through gritted teeth.

"You won't dare." Claire glared challengingly at him.

"Don't push your luck, Miss Rollins. Now out with it so that I may be able to get some sleep! I had a long day at work today!"

Claire bit her upper lips. Deep frowns were on her forehead.

She trusted Snape. She trusted him enough not to use any magic on her against her wills. But at the same time, she was scared to tell him.

In the end however, her trust won.

Taking a deep breath, she told him what exactly happened.

Severus listened attentively. Not even once he interrupted her as she told him what happened. Finally, when she was done telling him, he let out a long heavy sigh and pitched the bridge of his nose.

"Miss Rollins, as much as I enjoyed our friendship, I must say that sometimes, you drove me up the walls with your gullibility and naivety."

Claire blinked her eyes a few times. Confusion clearly showed on her face at his sharp words.

"It takes more than just petty words for Lucius Malfoy to get on his nerves and under his skin, Miss Rollins."

"B-But he said-"

" _He played you!"_ Severus shouted in frustration.

Honestly, he had been anxiously worried for her safety for nothing! When she said Lucius had threatened her, in his mind, Severus imagined his good friend had finally lose his sanity over his dead beloved wife and had retorted to violence. He feared for her own safety. He feared Lucius had threatened to do harms or even worse, killed her.

"He played you, Miss Rollins. He played you well."

Claire crossed her arms. "Why would he do that?"

Severus massaged his aching temple. "I don't know! Perhaps he found it amusing watching you trembled in fear at his meaningless threat?"

"That's just rude! Because of him, I could barely concentrate on my task tonight!" Claire huffed. "Where's he? I don't hear any noises."

"If it amuses you, Lucius had made an effort to tell me beforehand that he wouldn't be coming home tonight."

Claire pumped her fist in the air.

"Yes!" All the anger she'd felt toward Lucius vanished instantly. Her action had quickly earned her a stunning look from the older man sitting beside her.

"Yes? Miss Rollins, are you _that_ delightful to hear Lucius won't be here with us tonight?"

" _YES!"_

"Huh."

Severus summoned two cups of hot Camomile tea, using wordless magic. He sipped on his tea before he spoke thoughtfully.

"I've been thinking, Miss Rollins."

Claire swallowed her tea and looked up at the man.

"Yeah?"

"Perhaps you and Lucius should get more acquainted with each other."

Claire spilt her drink at the counter, much to Severus' disguised as he shook in disapproval.

"Merlin! Honestly, can't you be more _unladylike?_ "

"Pardon me, Snape. My hearings must have temporarily failed me. Did I hear you said to be 'acquainted' with Malfoy?"

Snape sneered and rolled his eyes.

Claire's happiness quickly vanished and was replaced with anger.

"Seriously? You want me to be an acquaintance with that self-righteous, selfish, arrogant Malfoy who doesn't even cared if his good friend is starving to death while he went off and have fun on his own? _Seriously,_ Snape?"

"All I'm saying Miss Rollins, is that you consider having a _civil_ conversation with him. Lucius is a deeply broken hearted man whom had just lose his beloved wife. I'm well aware you can't comprehend the situation he's facing at the moment, but believe it or not, you are not much different from him."

That certainly got her attention. Claire turned her head toward him. Her lips was thinned. Her ears grown red.

Snape knew very well she was desperately trying to hold back her tongue from retorting his words. He let out a small smirk.

"You both have a lot in commons more than you realized. For example, both of you have recently lose the people you loved the most. You both are still struggling to deal and cope with the losses." He shrugged. "Do you really want me to list down everything?"

It took a while for a respond from the young Muggle beside him as she let his words sunk in. Fortunately for Snape, he was a very patient man. Finishing his cup of tea, Snape looked at the untouched tea beside him before his eyes moved to the young woman who had her head down.

Her medium short brown hair fell all over her head.

It was faint, and almost impossible for him to hear, but Snape did. He heard soft murmurs coming from the Muggle.

"What do you think I should do?"

Snape watched her carefully from the corner of his eyes before answering in a gentle voice. "Get to know him. Lucius isn't a horrible man once you got to know him better. Yes, he has his demons, but so do the rest of us. Give him a chance to get to know you too. _Claire._ "

Claire instantly looked up. Snape had never used her first name before, not even once. He was always too formal and old-fashioned to call her by her first name, despite she often referring him sometimes both of his first and last name, depending on the occasions.

Dark penetrating eyes stared her. Before long, it was Claire who took the first initiative to look away. She sighed in defeat.

"Fine."

That's all he needed to hear.

Snape nodded and got up. With a wave of his wand, he cleared up the table, and wished her good night, before heading to his own private chamber to get some well deserved sleep.

* * *

 **To** say it was easier to befriend Lucius Malfoy than Severus Snape, was an understatement of the year. At least with Snape, Claire knew where she stood in his eyes. It was under pure coincidence that he had the nightmares that drove her to him.

With Lucius, she didn't even know where to begin with!

When Claire woke up the very next morning, she was determined to find Lucius and had a long heart-to-heart talk and get-to-know sessions with him. She had even made an effort to wake up extra early to make breakfast for Severus (who was surprised to find her on Breakfast Duty for a change), before he left for work.

Once Severus was out of the house and after she'd finished done her daily chores, Claire went for a quick shower and prepared herself to meet with Lucius.

While putting on her attires (she chose to wear a black fitted jeans and a simple white laced blouse), it finally occur to her that she didn't even know where Malfoy had been to last night!

Severus had mentioned during breakfast Lucius didn't returned in the morning. So that means, he must have slept somewhere with one of his toys. But where and how on Earth was she going to find him?

Groaning frustratedly, she quickly text Severus.

' _Do you have any ideas where Lucius had been to last night or this morning? I certainly don't!'_

After sending the message, she waited impatiently for the man to reply.

About twenty minutes later, Snape finally replied. ' _His Muggle Office in London.'_

Claire was shocked. She remember Snape had once told her after the death of his wife, Lucius had left everything behind including his business to his one and only son while he went to mend his broken heart.

She wanted to ask Severus if the man had been working while he was grieving, but decided not to.

If Claire had learnt anything about the ex-Potion Master during their struggled of building a friendship, was that he hated to be disturbed the most during working hours with an exception of emergencies.

Even that had to be a Life or Death situation.

Shrugged, Claire turned to the next best thing to help her with her dilemma － _Google._ She typed 'Malfoy Company Business' and clicked the Search button. It took her merely a second for the searching site to be filled with all sorts related to the Malfoy's Business.

Raising an eyebrow, she began her quest to search for his Main Company's location in London.

It took Claire a few minutes to get things done. After she had jotted the address, Claire once again looked herself in the mirror. If she was going to do this, she would make sure she do things right.

Taking a deep breath, Claire grabbed her handbag and left the apartment.

* * *

 **"LINA,** could you fetch me a cup of coffee, please?"

"Right away, Mr. Malfoy."

Lina Walker, thirty years old, walked out of the Executive's Private Office, swaying her hips left and right, with hopes that the man would noticed. She returned a moment later with the finest brewed Coffee and handed it over to the ever-so-handsome Executive.

Lucius had smiled, though briefly and thanked her for the coffee. His smile had made her heart melted and she felt like twenty years younger again.

Making her way back to her desk, with a wide grin still plastered on her kissable lips, Lina was however, shocked to find a rather plain looking _younger_ woman standing near her desk.

The younger woman gave her a smile as she waited patiently for Lina to approach behind the desk.

"May I help you?" Her voice was sharp, irritated and possessive as she asked the younger woman.

"Uh, yes." Claire cleared her throat. "Actually, I'm here to see Mr. Malfoy."

Lina raised one perfectly eyebrow. "Name?"

"Claire Rollins. I-I didn't make an appointment with him, but-"

"Mr. Malfoy is a _very_ busy man with hectic schedules, Miss Rollins. Unless you made an early appointment with him,only then you may be able to see him."

"Please Miss-" Claire looked at her name tag. "-Miss Walker. All I ask is five minutes of his time. That's it."

"I regret saying this to you, Miss Rollins, but you have to make an appointment with him. His next free schedule will be two months from now on. Good day then." The older woman dismissed her with a wave of her hand.

"I-"

"Miss Rollins?" A familiar male voice spoke through Lina's intercom speaker. The older woman cussed silently. Of course. had recently set up a hidden camera somewhere in the room.

The reason for this was because he had been receiving too many unwanted and demanding visitors to his private office that it was getting stressful and harder for his personal assistants and secretary to handle them all.

By setting a hidden camera, Lucius was able to determine who he wished to entertain his visitors.

"Miss Rollins is just about to _leave_ , Mr. Malfoy. I've told her that if she wishes to meet with you she needs to-"

"Come on in, Miss Rollins." Spoke the man again over the speaker before he ended the conversation.

Almost instantly, Claire felt cold air emitted from the older woman.

"It seems Mr. Malfoy wishes to see you. However, I must refrain that you do _not_ take his time away from his already hectic schedule, Miss Rollins."

Claire nodded wordlessly before walking over to the Executive's door and gave it a knock.

"Enter."

"I must say you surprise me, Miss Rollins." Lucius gestured his guest to sit down on the black leather seat before his desk, after shaking her hand.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of having you here?" Lucius asked after seated himself.

Claire tucked the strings of her hair behind her ears. Taking a deep breath, she decided not to waste time by beating around the bushes and be honest about it.

"Mr. Malfoy," Claire struggled to calm her nerves. "What happened last night at the Deli, was unacceptable. I was wrong for displaying such rudeness toward you while you were my customer."

Claire Rollins was many things in Lucius' eyes. She was a strange, ill-mannered, unladylike, naive young woman who didn't know her place in society. With her poor background and lack of manners, she shouldn't even be in the same place, let alone breathe in the same air as him!

At last, as it turned out, after the death of his beloved wife, he was stuck with the young Muggle for Merlin knows how long. Until he could picked himself up again and mend his broken heart perhaps?

It amused Lucius to no end when he had found out that his good friend, Severus Snape had befriended with the Muggle, even to a certain point, grown fond of her. How could the ex-Potion Master have a soft-spot for her was beyond his ability and credibility. I mean look at that hairstyle!

Such hideous hairstyle!

Severus had the patient to tell him it was called 'Pageboy Haircut.' It shouldn't be appropriate for young ladies of all age at all!

For Lucius, while he was no longer openly acted like a ruthless bigot and racially superior to the people beneath him, he still took a great pride in his aristocratic stature, and only internally condemn them.

The only thing that changed in him was that Lucius had more self-reserved, tolerate and control of his feelings especially when it comes to deal with the lower-class people, Muggles, Muggle-borns, and Half-Bloods.

"Mr. Malfoy?" A soft voice snapped Lucius out of his deep thoughts.

Dark grey eyes stared up at her before he cleared his throat.

"Miss Rollins, I must say it is brave of you indeed to come all the way here to see me just so you could apologised for your rude behaviour last night. For that, I accepted your apology." He smiled.

"Wait," Claire shook her head. "Wait Mr. Malfoy, I think you must have misheard me. I apologised for my behaviour because you were a customer. The moment you walked into the Deli, you were a customer whom I must served and respect. However, I do not recalled apologising for saying those words to you!"

"Miss Rollins, what exactly are you trying to say? If you did not come here to apologise for your words last night, why are you even here then?"

Claire took a sharp deep breath and exhaled.

 _Stay in control, Rollins. Don't let him get to you. Stay in control._

"Mr. Malfoy, I've come here not to provoke you any further about what happened last night, so let's just forget the whole thing and put it behind us, yeah? I'll get straight to the point: I think we both started on the wrong foot since day one. So, I'm offering you a new start, a new beginning of a _friendship_ , if you will. With me."

Lucius' eyebrows rose and he struggled to hide his shock. Clearly he must have misheard this?

"I beg your pardon?"

Claire sighed. "I'm offering you a truce and friendship, ."

Lucius steeple his hands in front of him, and tapped his fingers on his lips. "Why?"

At his question, Claire bit her lower lip. "I've been doing some thinking lately, that perhaps, I didn't try hard enough to understand your current situation, hence, my treatments toward you have been rather unfairly, as pointed out by your dear _friend_ , Severus."

 _Ah, so that's the real reason._

 _Severus. Of course._

Lucius leaned back in his chair and stared at Claire. "So in other words, Miss Rollins,the reason you're doing this is because of _Severus_ and not yourself, am I correct?"

"Incorrect, Mr. Malfoy. Severus only pointed out that I'd been treated you rather unfairly. It is _my_ decision to come here."

Lucius once again looked her straight in the eyes. After what seemed to be eternity, he finally moved his gaze and straightened his back.

"Well, Miss Rollins. I must admit, I am rather surprise with your honesty and your boldness." He looked up to her and this time, smiled sincerely at her.

"I accept your offer."

It was Claire's turn to be in shocked by his response. She didn't expect him to accept her offer really! Before coming here, Claire had all sort of imagination what might happened when she stepped into his office. The least thing Lucius could do was humiliate her and then had her thrown out of the building!

Yet, here he was, accepting her offer of friendship with a smile－a sincere smile, nevertheless.

Taking a deep breath, Claire stood up and held her hand to him.

"To a new beginning, ."

"Lucius." He said, shaking her hand. "If we are going to be acquaintances, I'd prefer to be call by my first name, Miss Rollins."

"Oh, then call me Claire. I prefer if people call me by my first name too. Less formality." She casually shrugged.

To her unexpected, Lucius lifted her hand to his lips and kissed at the back of her hand. His hot breath was on her skin, it made Claire flinched a bit as blush slowly creep from her neck to her face.

It took a moment for Claire to realise what he was doing, and in that short moment, Lucius let out a smirk before letting go of her hand.

Claire pushed her hair at the back of her ears. She stood up straight, readily to leave. "Well, since we're done here. I-I should really be going."

"Miss Claire?" Lucius also stood up. "Would you care to join me for dinner tomorrow night? I think it would be in our best interest to really get to know each other."

"I'd love to, Mr. Ma- _Lucius._ " She smiled at him. "Tomorrow night it is then?"

Lucius nodded. He opened the door and watched her leave.

* * *

 **"SO** , you've made a progress, I assume?" Severus Snape was currently stirring a wooden spoon to the beef stew in the kitchen of their apartment.

Claire bit on a green apple and made herself comfortable by sitting on the island beside the stove. Severus glared at her, which she ignored and continued telling him what had happened at the Office.

"I guess so. We've made amends, which is a good thing right? He'd even asked me out for dinner tomorrow night."

"He did? That's a good. And, you accepted his offer, correct?"

Claire shrugged. "He wanted to make an effort, so why should I declined him? After all, we've been house-mates for the past five months, and I still don't know what's his favourite colour is!"

Severus raised an eyebrow, amusingly. "Favourite colour, Miss Rollins?"

"Or _anything_ about him!" Claire exclaimed.

"Ah." Severus turned off the stove.

Using a wave of his wand, he took two empty ceramic bowls and put it beside him. He then scoop the stew into each bowls before processed to the dining table where a freshly baked garlic breads were waiting for them.

"His favourite colour is obviously green, Miss Rollins. All Slytherin members would preferred green over any colour. Though personally, I think the combination of green and silver suit him best."

"Is that so?" Claire poured them a glass of iced lemon tea.

"Yes." Severus took one of the garlic breads and dipped into to his bowl of stew before he ate it.

"This is good!" Claire munched the half-covered with stew bread.

"Thank you. I could teach you how to make the stew if you want."

"A recipe would be nice. Thanks, Severus."

"You're welcome, Miss Rollins. Now then, let's enjoy the meal while it still hot."


	3. Chapter 3

**Shoutout to:**

Amarenima Redwood for being the first to review! This is for you. Hope you'll like it! :3

 **Chapter 3: Darcy Who?**

 **THE** night of the date arrived quickly than Claire had thought. She'd woken up early in the morning, feeling rather fresh and excited. She had made a nice breakfast for Severus and herself, before they both went out for work and errand duties.

Serevus had given her a list of errands that needed to be done by today and Claire had spent a good amount of her time in London. By two o'clock in the evening, Claire had returned home, slightly tired from her morning errand duties.

She ate a simple sandwich for lunch before proceeded cleaning up the apartment and preparing a simple dinner for her house-mate. Then, by the time it was five o'clock in the evening, Claire had excused herself from all chores and spent the next hours of preparing herself for the date.

When Severus came back home at six o'clock, he had immediately began helping Claire taming her hair, as he had promised her the night before.

Instead of using the _Sleekeazy's Hair Potion and Scalp Treatment,_ which the ex-potion Master had found it rather unhelpful, he had brewed his own version of Hair Potion and Scalp Treatment and poured it all over to her hair waited for fifteen minutes for the potion's effect.

At exactly seven o'clock sharp in the evening, Lucius showed up at the doorsteps. in his right hand, he'd bought along a yellow rose, for their new beginning of how he not needed to wait for anyone to answer the door as he welcomed himself in; using the copy of the house key he had.

The moment Lucius entered the apartment, he was greeted immediately with an interesting sight that made his eyebrows rose.

His good friend, still wearing his working attire; a black turtle neck long sleeves shirt and black jeans, was caught red-handed with a hair brush on his right hand, and a hair dryer on the other hand, and was halfway out of the Muggle's private chamber.

"Severus."

 _"Lucius."_

Both men stared at each other in a long silence. Daring the other to speak a word using their eyes, before a loud cough interrupted them.

Claire, dressed in a white three quartered sleeves Chinese top with black floral laces around the neck area and at the bottom. To complete her attire, she wore a long black casual skirt. Her hair was straightened, and with the help of Severus, looked smooth and soft with a few hair clips to keep the strings out of the way. Claire had even made the effort to put on a Maroon lipstick to contrast with her with shirt.

Not forgotten his manners, Lucius handed her the rose before he kissed the back of her palm, not even leaving his eyes from her.

"My dear, you look astonishing."

"Thank you. I'm glad to see the efforts I've made finally paid off." She smiled at him, before turning to look at Severus. "Thank you so much for your help."

Severus gave her a brief nod.

"We should best be heading now. Severus, I shall see you sometime later." the smirk in his dark grey eyes spoke with volume at the dark haired ex-Potion Master's stiff appearance.

"Have her back home safe, _Lucius._ " Severus' dark endless tunnel eyes stared intimidatingly at the older man.

"I shall, Severus. Good night."

" **Red** wine for you, Miss Claire?" Lucius asked, after the waiter had taken their orders and while waiting for them to order their drinks.

"Oh no thanks. I don't drink alcohols. Do you have Roselle Iced Tea instead?"

"Certainly, Madam." said the waiter. "Anything else for you, Mr. Malfoy?"

"No. That will be all. Thank you."

The waiter nodded and left their table.

Claire cleared her throat. "The first and last time I drank anything alcoholic, I ended up tasting my own vomit and the drink itself. Not a girl's first best experience and certainly not a best taste combination. Since then, I've been staying away from it."

"Delicate tongue, are we? Poor baby."

The drinks arrived shortly afterwards.

Lucius raised his glass for a toast and clacked Claire's mug of Roselle Iced Tea.

"To friendship."

"To friendship. Let's hope I do not ended up drinking my own vomit and the red wine itself after this."

He smirked at the glare Claire was giving him.

"The Sommelier seems to be familiar with you. Do you usually take your dates out to a fancy restaurant like this?" Claire asked, while waiting for their starters, mushroom soup, to arrive.

"Yes. And afterwards, we will be snogging for hours before we both ended up in bed for a night of passion."

Claire made a face. "We're _not_ going to do that, are we?"

Lucius chuckled lowly and amusingly. "No, my dear. Despite your astonishing appearance tonight, you are not exactly the type of woman I would like to snog nor snag with. No offence."

Claire shrugged. "None taken."

"Your youth reminded me a lot of my son, Draco, despite you being older than him."

"Ah."

"How old exactly are you, Miss Claire?" Lucius asked, while sipping his bowl of Mushroom soup.

"Twenty-four."

"Well, you certainly do not look like one."

Claire shrugged. "Do I have to put on heavy make ups and wear skimpy clothes to look like my age?"

"Not really. Though a make up is preferable. Take no offence, Miss Claire, you do have a nice and flawless skin. But a bit of make up won't kill you－to show your maturity."

"Two words Mr. Malfoy: _'Au Naturale'_. And for the record, I'd prefer to use my brain to show my maturity as you called it, than my appearance."

After a while, Claire opened her mouth, "How old are you, Lucius?"

"A Gentleman does not kiss and tell, Miss Claire."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Please. I know you're older than Severus, and he's thirty-eight. So you must be... Forty-two?"

" _Forty,_ Miss Claire."

"Ah. Good to know."

"How's your rack of lamb, Miss Claire?"

"Juicy. The mushroom sauce is tasteful as well. Just the way I like it."

"Good to hear that. Have you noticed we were being stared at by the others?"

"They must have thought of us as Father and Daughter dining out."

"Doesn't that bothers you?" Lucius asked, wondering.

"Not really. We aren't lovers or a couple."

"You don't pull your punch much, don't you, Miss Claire." Lucius grinned and sipped on his wine.

Claire simply shrugged.

"Enlighten me, Miss Claire, have you ever been with a man before?"

Claire choke on the small piece of lamb she was in mid-swallowing. Reaching for her glass, she drank it desperately.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Lucius. What possessed you to ask me that question?"

Lucius shrugged. "You seem like an innocent little girl. I was just wondering and midly curious."

"I assure you, I'm hardly innocent. But I'm not that _vile_ either. Though it's none of your business to know in the first place." She muttered at the last sentence.

Lucius raised an eyebrow. A coy smirk spread across his lips. "Do tell, Miss Claire."

Claire felt the hot air between them (or was it just her?). Cutting the lamb slowly, she refused to meet with his gaze.

"I'm still pure, Mr. Malfoy. Untouched by any men. and, I'm not ashamed to admit it. I'd prefer to keep it that way until my wedding night with the right gentleman. So there you have it."

Lucius' smirk grew widened. He lifted his glass and silently drank it.

"I've heard from Severus that you enjoy reading books, Miss Claire?" Lucius asked after the waiter had served them dessert; a Vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and peanuts.

"Oh, yes. Classical Novels by Jane Austin are my favourites. It's a Muggle's classic loved by women all around the world."

"Ah, is that so? I've never really into romance, myself. The shelves back at the Malfoy's library are mostly consist of educational, political, and magical references books. My late wife and I encouraged Draco to be knowledgeable about the world as he much as he could. Though, when I think about it now, maybe it would benefit him to read other things such poems and short stories after all."

"I feel sorry for your son."

 **AFTER** their not-too-horrible-yet-not-that-perfect dinner, Lucius took her for a long walk to home and walked off the heavy meals they just had.

Lucius was the first to break the awkward silence. "I must say, Miss Claire, never before have I ever experience a date such as tonight."

"Is that a good or bad thing?"

"I'm not sure. Frankly speaking, I feel a sense of relief to know that tonight, I don't have to entertain my date with wisdom and flirtatious words in order to get her to my bed."

Claire snorted. "Casanova, aren't we?"

They took a left turn from the corner. The apartment was merely a distance away when Claire spoke, "You know, Mr. Malfoy-"

"Lucius." He corrected her.

" _Lucius._ Despite my first impression of you, you turned out to be a rather tolerable date."

"Only tolerable, Miss Claire? I'm hurt."

"I'll give you more credits when we go on our second outing."

"Deal. Frankly speaking, you don't turned out to be a petty date as I'd imagined earlier today, Miss Claire. I think if this keeps up, we might be able to tolerate each other's existence."

"So I take it you'll be moving back to the Apartment now?" Lucius slowly nodded his head.

"You'll pay for your share of the rent this time right?" Claire narrowed her eyes at him. Again, Lucius nodded his head.

"Good!" She smiled at him. "Oh, I allow you to bring over your toys to the apartment, BUT, make sure you keep it down. I don't need the neighbours to think it's me you're shagging."

"Got it. Anything else?"

Claire thought for a moment before shaking her head. "Not at the moment."

They soon landed at the front door.

"Well, this is my stop. Sure you don't want to sleep in tonight?"

Lucius shook his head.

"I have _other_ matters to attend to, Miss Claire. I may not be able to dine with them, but that doesn't mean I don't seek out for their companionships afterwards." He smirked.

Claire raised an eyebrow. " _Riiight._ You go and enjoy yourself then."

"Goodnight, Miss Claire." Lucius leaned down, and kissed her forehead.

"Wow. For a moment there, I thought you'd actually wanted to _kiss_ me!"

"Do you want me to?" His voice was sultry in her ears.

Claire quickly shook her head. "Save your lips for those who want it, Lucius."

She turned the key and unlocked the door.

"Oh, for the records, Lucius before I forget, you remind me of someone－Fitzwilliam Darcy." She then shrugged. "I don't know. Must be something about you two being a powerful man of your time and all. Come to think of it, you two do have the same personalities, more or less. Oh, sorry for my ramblings. You should be heading on your way now. Good night, Lucius!"

Claire shut the door and locked it.

Unknown to her, Lucius was still standing before the door and didn't backed away. His own eyes were serious and unreadable for a minute, before his walking stick tapped on the ground furiously as he walked out of the apartment.

Lucius Malfoy did not spent his with his companions that night. Instead, he went back to his Muggle's Office, terrorised his secretary and personal assistants the whole of the night in search for a man whom his young date had claimed that he shared similarities with － _Fitzwilliam Darcy._


	4. Chapter 4

**SHOUT OUT TO:**

 **MissesE:** Thank you so much for the comment! I'm searching for BETA right now! :) ah, thanks for pointing out the grammatical errors. it's a flaw that I'm struggling to cope at the moment. Haha! i'm glad you enjoyed the Lucius scene at the end. ;)

 **notwritten:** Thank you! this chapter is for you ;) you too keep smiling!

 **Chapter 4: A Friend**

 **SEVERUS** Snape was a bitter, cynical, cranky man who was overall, extremely hard to please. Back in the old days while he had been a professor at Hogwarts, he was widely known as the 'Greasy Git' by most students, new or old alike, and was immediately hated by them due to his sharp tongue.

Despite disliked by many, Severus had an admirable thing about him that most of the students (and some of the professors) often overlooked－he was a damn good teacher and a highly intellectual and formidable sorcerer.

As a professor, he put his standards on his classes higher than the other professors and would only allowed students who seemed worthy and qualified with best grades to continue with advanced study. As it turned out, most of the students whom hated him, ended up graduating with high achievements in all of their classes, all thanks to his high expectations and disciplines.

As a formidable sorcerer, Snape's extensive knowledge and abilities about magic, especially the Dark Arts, made him one of the powerful and fearsome wizard in the Wizarding World. He was also extremely intelligent and calculative, with a brilliant mind for strategy and deduction.

Which was why, on one Saturday morning during breakfast, it was very unusual for his only female house-mate to watch him pacing back and forth like a miserable duck on the kitchen's floor, all the while cussing and tearing his hair out, with a piece of paper on his hand.

"Severus?"

" _What?"_

"You might want to stop tearing your hair like that, you'll go bald, you know. I'm just saying." Claire chewed her toasted bread very slowly, eyes still focused on the older man.

Severus growled and glared sharply at her. He walked toward her and leant forward.

"Stop being such a cheeky lass. Why are you still doing here? Where's Lucius?" He hissed through his gritted teeth.

Claire shrugged. "Dunno. Haven't seen him for weeks since the date."

Again, Severus let out a frustrated groan.

Claire rolled her eyes. "What about you? What crawled up your arse and bit it off?"

" _Language,_ Miss Rollins!" He didn't answer her question.

It wasn't until he almost toppled everything on the table, including _her_ breakfast, when Claire finally put her foot down.

"All right, that's _it!_ " She pointed one finger at him. "You. sit down. _Now!"_

Severus gave her his best intimidating 'how-dare-you-order-me-around' glare, but Claire would have none of it. She raised an eyebrow instead.

After a minute or two of glaring contest, Severus finally gave in. He sat down on the unoccupied seat before her, crossed his arms, and pouted like a bloody child.

Claire took a deep long breath, exhaled and began to speak with calm voice.

"Severus, I've noticed you haven't been yourself lately. So either tell me what's really bothering you so that I may help you to depose any ill feelings, or so help me God, don't take it on other people!"

Severus narrowed his eyes at her. Wordlessly, he pushed the crumpled piece of paper toward her.

Claire took the paper and carefully read it.

"The Annual Spring Ball?"

Severus sneered, but refused to give a comment.

Claire read a bit more before her mouth formed an 'o' and then she nodded. "Right. I see what your problem is. "

She pointed out at a sentence and read it aloud, " 'All teachers are allowed to bring a Plus One.' that's what troubling you, isn't it?"

"Very good Miss Rollins, for pointing out the _obvious_! I'm sure you must be proud of yourself. Want me to give you a pat at the back?"

"Oh for the love of-" Claire shut her eyes and pitched the bridge of her nose.

 _Deep breath, Rollins. Take a deep breath._

Taking a deep breath and straightened her back, Claire looked at the greasy dark haired man.

"Severus. While I can't see the reason why your need to be such an _arse_ toward me these past few days, I'm here if you need a helping hand. Do you need me to be your Plus One?"

Severus shifted uncomfortably on his seat. His refusal to look at her in the eyes told her everything.

"All right. When is the ball then?"

"Tonight." he muttered lowly.

"TONIGHT?" Her unexpected shout at him caused Severus to get up from his seat.

"Yes, it's tonight! Is your sense of hearing not working, Miss Rollins?"

"Well, I'm sorry for being a little shock _. Git."_

Sighing, Claire reached for her mobile phone and dialled a number.

"What are you doing?" Severus asked, watching as she tapped her fingernails on the table.

"Doing you a bloody favour, that's what." She lifted one finger in the air at him and talked the person over the phone. "Hi, good morning! Is this Madam Karam? Yes, this is Claire Rollins speaking. Yes, yes that's me. I'm calling in to say that I won't be able to come to work today. Yes, I've gotten a cold. Oh, she did? Well I'd thought it was nothing at first- oh, okay. Okay, thank you so much for your understanding, Madam. Good day to you too. Bye!"

As soon as she hung up, she looked up and immediately met with Severus' sharp look.

"I never recalled asking for your help, Miss Rollins." Severus said through gritted teeth.

"I know. You're just too proud to ask for any helps, Severus. Anyhow, my Lady Boss has already given me a leave for today. She said I didn't look so well last week and told me to rest up."

Sneered, Severus sat down on his seat, beside her. He relaxed his stiff muscles and closed his eyes.

Claire sighed, looking at the man sitting beside her. Standing up, she went behind him and unexpectedly began to massage his stiff shoulders.

"You need to relax more."

"Shut it, Rollins."

"What, no 'Miss Rollins' now?" Claire playfully teased.

Severus deeply sighed as he relaxed completely and enjoyed her hands massaging on his stiff shoulders.

It wasn't unusual to have her massaging his shoulders. Claire remembered the first time she had offered to give his shoulders a massage a month ago, Severus looked like as if she had told him his hair was pink. After assuring him that her hands wouldn't 'wandered' off, Severus had reluctantly gave in at first, but found himself enjoyed it tremendously.

Since then, every twice a week, Claire would give his shoulders a massage.

"Severus? Now that I'm available for the rest of day, when are we going for a shopping?"

Severus' eyes automatically opened. "Shopping, Miss Rollins?"

"Well duh, I need a dress for tonight!"

Raising an eyebrow, Severus crossed his arms. "Are you telling me you don't owe a piece of proper dress whatsoever?"

"Have you _seen_ my wardrobe?"

* * *

 **"Unbelievable**!"

 _CLANK._

The clunking sound of hangers being thrown on the floor.

" _Preposterous!_ "

 _CLANK._

Claire winked at the last of his many outburst. As soon as she had said those words, Severus, without any hesitation went through her wardrobe.

To say that he was shocked to see no dresses whatsoever in her wardrobe was an understatement. Severus was beyond shocked!

Here was a young woman in her twenties, whose wardrobe should be filled with mini skirts, ruffle blouses, gowns, dresses, but instead, all he saw were t-shirts of all kinds, jeans, pants, and a couple of old and worn out long skirts, including the one that she'd wore during her date with Lucius.

"Merlin's Beard, woman! Are you a male or female?"

"Hey, that's a very _sexist_ remark,Snape! Of course I'm a female!"

"Then prey tell me, why isn't there a single dress in your wardrobe? The only thing that I see here are these－ _pants!_ " He shove the pants in his hands to her face.

"I wear pants because they're comfortable and easy to move in! But that doesn't make me any less than a female. You're in my world now, Severus Snape. So like it or not, you'll just have to deal with the fact that some females prefer to wear pants over skirts, t-shirts over dresses. I'm happened to be one of them, you old git!"

Severus pitched the bridge of his nose. He knew he needed to learn plenty about the Muggles' strange cultures, like it or not. Taking a deep breath, Severus took out his wand and began to wave it around to clean up the mess he'd made in her room.

Once everything was properly rearranged accordingly, he turned to Claire.

"Let's get you a few dresses then."

* * *

 **"That** will be £120, Sir."

Severus paid for dresses to the cashier.

"Here's your change, Sir. By the way, your daughter looks very nice wearing that dress just now, if I may say so myself!"

Severus was stunned by the cashier's harmless' words. So stunned, he barely accepted the wrapped dress in the plastic bag that was handed over to him by the cashier. Fortunately, he was saved by Claire's quick remark.

"He's not my father. He's my uncle." Claire smiled.

"Oh, I'm very sorry for saying that, Miss! You two looked so close, I assumed you were his daughter!"

"It's okay. Don't worry about it." Claire waved at the friendly cashier for the final time before she hooked one arm with Severus and dragged him out of the store before the girl could questioned them any further.

"Phew! That was close." Claire at her 'Uncle.' "Are you okay over there?"

Severus recovered quickly. He nodded but said nothing.

"Oh, cheer up, Severus!" Claire playfully punched his arm. "It's not like you haven't been questioned before. What's wrong?"

"It finally sunk into me." he looked at her. "You're old enough to be mine and Lucius' daughter."

Claire let out a loud snort. "So?"

"Miss Rollins, the fact that you are old enough to be our _daughter and_ living with us－ _with me especially_ －doesn't it bothers you at all? I mean, shouldn't young women at your age be doing something bizarre and hooked ups?"

"I failed to see your point, Snape."

Snape sighed desperately. "You are a young woman living in an apartment with two strangers who do not have any blood relations with you whatsoever. You lied to people, to your friends and employers saying the three of us are relatives. Doesn't it bothers you at all the fact that you could have gotten married or have a wonderful relationship with someone else instead of just being here with _me!_ "

"Snape, what the hell are you talking about?" Claire snapped.

 _Does Severus Snape actually worrying about my love life? Bloody hell!_

"I don't know where this ramblings of yours coming from Snape, and I don't bloody appreciate it, but yes, I _got_ it. I'm a single young woman who lives with two male strangers in a small apartment. Those busybody neighbours have already thought that I'm one of your play toy and there might be a chance that I'll ended up as old maid because no men are brave enough to touch me if they found out about two of you. But-"

"Then perhaps we should move out of your place. I'm sure I can afford to find a place nearby. I'm pretty sure Lucius has his own bloody place to stay as well-"

"Hold on, Snape! I haven't finish talking yet!" Claire put one finger on his lips to stop his ramblings despite his glare.

Claire sighed. _"_ Despite what the people are saying about us, Severus, that apartment is a _home_ for all the three of 've been living together close to six months now, for God's sake! Lucius often comes and goes as he pleases, but the two of us, we've spent time getting to know each other, arguing, laughing, cooking, sleeping － those are the things that made the apartment that you and I are staying, special. It makes me feel like I have a home to return to. It makes me feels like having a _family_ again. Blood relation be damned. So you see, Severus, should there be a man who wishes to sweep my feet away, he needs to accept the fact that I enjoy staying with an overgrown bat with a greasy hair and an arrogant self-centred wizard and having the two of you as my house-mates. Because I knew you two long before I met him. And who knows when I will meet 'the man destined for me'. If he can't accept the fact that what we have is nothing more or less than just a true friendship, then it's his loss. I need a man who can trusts me. If he doesn't trust the two of you, that's fine. But he needs to be able to trust _me._ Because I will never give up on our friendship for the sake of other. Not even for him."

There were few things that'd actually made Severus Snape turned completely speechless. Usually those time were very rare and hard to come. By the time Claire finished her speech, Severus could only stared at her. Gone all the troubles in his eyes and the heavy burdens on his shoulders.

"Miss Rollins..." Severus said after a long pause. "I... I'm speechless. I don't really know what to say."

Claire smiled at him and took his hand, which Severus flinched a little bit when her hand touched his.

"I know a good place that sells excellent pies. Shall we head there for lunch?"

* * *

 **T** he bell rang the moment a couple entered Tony's Pies.

"Welcome to Tony's! Have a seat, Miss, Sir!" A waiter welcomed them and brought them to their seat. He handed each of them a menu and waited patiently for them to order.

"I'll have the Beef Pie, please. Severus?"

"Mushroom and Cheese."

"One Beef Pie and one Mushroom and Cheese. How about Drinks?"

"Roselle Iced Tea, if you have any?"

"One Roselle Iced Tea. And you, Sir?"

"Same. Thank you."

"Two Roselle Iced Tea then." The waiter jotted down the order and left the table.

Claire looked at the black haired man sitting across her on the opposite side of the table with a small smile. She knew he had a lot to think about what she'd just told him.

They sat there together in peaceful silence. Each with their own thoughts when the same waiter came with their drinks.

"Severus?" Claire decided to ask, while stirring her drink.

"Yes, Miss Rollins?"

"While I am happy and grateful that you bought me the dress earlier, I am curious and would like to know something. About tonight."

That caught the man's attention. He looked up with a slight panic.

 _Don't tell me she changed her bloody mind._ "What about tonight?"

"Why didn't you ask any of the teachers or staff to be your Plus One? I mean not ALL of them are married, right?"

Her question immediately made Severus shivered.

Before he could answer, the waiter served them their meals.

"Enjoy the Pies!" Said the friendly waiter before he took off to his station.

"There is a reason why I chose _you_ , Miss Rollins." Severus picked up his fork and cut the pie to small bites. "You see, back at the Easton Academy, there's a woman, a school's nurse, who resembled a lot like a fat annoying _cow_ back at Wizarding World. A cow named _Rita Skeeter._ " He hissed at the name.

"She's a noisy reporter for a gossip column of the Daily Prophet, whose life is to make other people's life miserable with her lies!" The fork he grip with an iron-fist, was bending to an uncontrollable shape.

Claire cleared her throat and asked for new fork from the passing-by waiter.

"She's that bad huh? Sounds no different from our own noisy reporters."

"They have their own kind." Severus cleared his throat. "Anyhow, the nurse's name is Darla Kim. She turned out to be an ordinarily Muggle. I'd almost, _almost_ hexed her the first time we've met."

"You didn't!" Claire gasped.

"Almost." Severus sighed. "I hate that Rita Skeeter with pure passion. What's even worse is, Darla Kim, is apparently said, to be fond of me."

The less crowded Tony's Pies was filled with the sweet laughter of a young woman in the same table with an older brooding man who could be easily mistaken as her father or older relative.

Claire had to hug herself to stop herself from breaking into a laughing fit. While she was busy doing so, Severus was giving her a hard glare. His paled face was slightly red, either from being greatly embarrassed that a woman actually took an interest in him or from hearing his younger companion's sweet laughters, Severus couldn't decide.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry, Severus! I didn't mean to laugh at you. It just that, well... Why didn't you asked her to go with you instead? Sure, she has the look of someone you hate, but if she is _generously_ interest in you, I don't see why you shouldn't at least give it a try?"

Severus snarled. "Bah! I'd rather chop my hands off than dating someone like Rita Skeeter or someone that looks like her!"

Claire shrugged. "suit yourself. So, the reason why you wanted me to come along is to throw Darla Kim off, right?"

"Please do. She's been giving me the creeps since day one. And quite frankly, I'd rather not have her claws all over me tonight."

"Okay then." Claire raised her hand. "Excuse me! May we have the bill, please?"

* * *

 **"I** T'S our great pleasure to have such generous man as yourself to come to the Spring Ball, Mr. Lucius!" Mr. Jade Lewis, the Principal of Easton Academy greeted the Malfoy Patriarch formally as he entered the VIP Room.

"We can't possibly thank you enough, Mr. Malfoy for your generosity to contribute significantly amount to the funds of the Literacy Faculty!"

"It is my pleasure, Headmaster Lewis. I have a good friend who is also a staff here. You should thanked him for telling me of your faculty problem." Lucius smiled professionally as he shook hands with the Headmaster.

The school's photographer wasted no time to snap a picture of the Patriarch and the Headmaster.

After a few more formal greetings with the school's staff, Lucius excused himself to the veranda for a bit of fresh air.

Lucius was dressed in a cream wool single-breasted three-piece suit, white cotton shirt and black silk tie with white stripe. Black and grey strip cotton pocket square, silver-plated tie bar, with a Slytherin ring on his right ring finger.

Last but not least, his trademark walking cane.

These past couple of weeks, Lucius Malfoy had been a very busy man. He'd spent a few days in the Netherlands to settle a business deal, flew to Austria for a potential Buyers for a week. Then, on the second week, he'd returned to England to settle another deal before being drove to the Eastern Academy just in time for the Spring Ball Ceremony.

Lucius' son, Draco, had been locked up in his office in Paris the whole of those hectic weeks, monitoring over the businesses there and to ensure that everything went accordingly and smoothly. He would be back in England first thing tomorrow morning for a weekend getaway before being forced to fly back again to handle the Paris' Office.

Looking at the moon above him, Lucius let his mind wondered to a young spirited Muggle whom he had the pleasure of taking out to a dinner few weeks ago.

Claire Rollins.

While Lucius had been busy with his hectic schedules, he was surprised to find out he'd missed her strange yet bubbling personality. There was something about her that didn't immediately caught his attention, but when it's no longer there, he craved for it.

Was it because it had been the first date he had with a woman whom he didn't need to pretend who he really was? Was it her personality? Her boldness to speak her mind whenever she wishes, and not really caring to whom specifically?

Whatever it was, it was driving Lucius crazy－especially after he'd found out who the bloody _Fritzwilliam Darcy_ was!

A Muggle's fictional character? She really compared him, Lucius Malfoy II, to a non-existence Muggle's Fictional Character?

 _Preposterous!_

Drinking the cup of wine he was holding with his right hand, Lucius was about to retreat inside and entertained himself with the old geezers who only wanted his fortunes when something caught his attention－a couple, both he knew too well, was entering the school gates.

Lucius couldn't believe his eyes.

His good friend Severus, was dressed in a Slytherin Green Suit. In his arms, was the young Muggle whom Lucius found himself missed greatly.

* * *

Claire wore a simple Forest green half-sleeves Lace Knee-length dress －Severus' choice of dress after they'd spent the entire morning for her to choose and trying out dresses. Her hair, she once again did the same style like when she went out on a date with Lucius.

For tonight's occasion, Claire made an effort to put on a light make up on her face and chose a rosy red lipstick for her lips.

All in all, Claire thought she looked great and rocked in the dress!

The moment Claire and her date entered the hall where the Ball was being held, memories of her high school years flashed in her mind. Claire had pretty good years as a high school students. She didn't belonged to any group and just blending in with everyone, though, she tried her best to avoid the Popular and Jocks Crowds, but they had always found their way into her small group of circles.

Claire assumed she was just simply a people's person.

"Could you wait here for a little bit while I go for my rounds?" Severus said once they have arrived at the beverages' table.

He had told her earlier in the day that all teachers were required to be on-duty, make rounds and keep eyes on the students to make sure they don't do any inappropriate deeds.

"Sure. I'll keep myself busy with the beverages then." Claire smiled.

Severus gave a brief smile at her before he leant forward and whispered in her ears. "Try not to finish all of the food. I know you've been starving yourself since lunch."

"Wicked." Claire playfully tapped his arms.

As Severus was about to leave her and walked away to start his duty when he literally froze.

Claire watched as his back stiff immediately. She could even clearly him sucked the air before he swallowed. Curious, her eyes drifted from his back to look at the person standing in between him and the exit door.

Surely whoever Darla Kim was, who resembled closely to the noisy reporter witch Severus hatred with great passion doesn't looked too bad, right?

Wrong.

The moment Claire's eyes met with the School Nurse, dressed in a very tight ocean blue short sleeveless dress that showed off most of her curves and cleavage, Claire almost spat the drink in her mouth.

Surely there must be rules for anyone to dress like that! Where the hell are the Fashion Polices? It's a crime for someone to be dressed inappropriately like that in a school nevertheless, let alone someone her own age!

Darla Kim's face was covered with thick make-ups and powder. Her thick lips was covered by bright red, her thick red haired were curled in odd ways. She wore a thick red spectaculars to hide her ocean-blue eyes.

As she walked toward Severus, Darla swayed her hips left and right － causing a few of the male students in the hall to gawk openly and received a hard hit by their dates.

"Severus Snape. It is so good to see you again this evening." Darla's voice was thick and seductive.

"Good evening to you as well, Madam." Severus struggled to keep his mind straight.

 _Oh dear._ Claire took the last sip of her drink and put the empty glass down.

 _Show time!_

"Darling, they even serve cheese and ham crackers at the beverage table!" A soft hand from the back reached out for Severus' stiff arm.

Claire's soft gaze met with his shocking look. She smiled at him before turning her look at the older woman before them. Her hand drifted from his arm to his chest, possessively.

"Oh, and who is this, _Severus?_ Your colleague?"

Severus coughed. "Yes. Allow me to introduce you my dear, This is Darla Kim, the School Nurse. Madam Kim, this is my," He momentarily paused. " _Dearest_ one, Claire Rollins."

"Oh, so this is the famous Darla Kim my dear Severus has been talking about! It's a pleasure to finally meeting with you. Thank you so much for watching over my Severus while he's at work!" Claire boldly walked toward the stunned woman and shook her hands strongly.

"It's a pleasure." Darla finally found her voice. Her eyes moved from the attractive looking younger woman before her to Severus. "You failed to mention that you are in a _relationship,_ Severus. With a _younger_ woman nevertheless."

"Oh, forgive me for not telling, Madam. I'm a simply a private man after all. As for my preference, I believe in the saying 'to each his own', Madam."

After a moment of an awkward silence, Darla made an excuse, saying that she needed to go out for a bit of fresh air.

Right after she'd left, Claire had a hard time of controlling her giggles.

"You're right, Severus! She does looks like a cow and a hag!" she gasped, still giggling.

Severus gave her a sharp glare. His face was still flushed from the encounter. His hands slightly shaken by the way Claire's hand had been on his chest earlier.

Claire stopped her giggling and gave the man her best smile.

"I say we've finally gotten rid of her."

"I highly doubt that." He sneered. "The woman's a stubborn and headstrong hag. I doubt she'd walked away so easily. No. We need to create something that would ultimately convince her that I'm not _technically_ available."

"Well, what do you have in mind?" Before Severus could reply, a shrilling voice called out to him across the hall.

" _Severus Snape!"_

All eyes turned at the owner of the voice and at the name spoken by her.

Darla came in, looked like a completely different woman from when she had been a moment ago.

Her eyes were narrowed, thick lips thinned and her hair looked like Medusa's. She stomped toward where the couple was and spat, "I don't believe that you, in any way, are in a relationship with _her_! " Darla gave a dirty look at Claire.

"Madam-"

"This is something to throw me off isn't it, Snape? Have you ever thought why an attractive, fresh and young woman like her would want a ghastly old man like you in the first place? Definitely not for your looks! For all you know, she could be using you for your fortunates!"

"Now hold it right there, woman!" Claire was immediately cut off by the ramblings of the older woman.

"But I'm not like that Severus! I'm older than you, I'm well aware of that. I am genuinely interest in you! I sincerely believe I can make you happier in more ways than one compare to this _witch!_ Tell me, is she any good in bed? Is that why you went for a younger woman?"

 _PAK!_

The sound of a good hard slapping echoed the whole silence hall. The music had stopped a long time ago the moment Darla had shouted Severus' name across the hall.

Claire had never been so enraged in her whole life! How dare that- that _bitch_ dared to talk about her and Severus like that? Who gives her the damn right to say those words in the first place?

In her rage, Claire didn't stopped to think the consequences of her next action.

"Good in bed? Let me tell you something, sister, I'm more than just that! The first reason why Severus had chosen me over a cow and hag like you is because I'm a hell of a good kisser!" Not thinking, she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him down on his knees for his lips to crash to hers.

* * *

 **SEVERAL** people gasped loudly could clearly be heard in the hall. Majority of the students were being taught by Severus or knew him by in either in Chemistry class or Detention Class.

They were all aware of his attitudes, and called him names worse than a 'Greasy Git.' However, none of them ever expected to see him escorting a beautiful lady tonight as they entered the school gates together.

Some of the students went as far as throwing bets around the school that he'd hired someone to be his Plus One, just to save his own face.

When Darla Kim, the School's hot Nurse was making a scene, only then thing got a bit interesting, and more bets were made around the school. It got even more interesting when Severus' date had slapped Darla Kim before she literally snogging the black haired man in front of everyone.

Lucius Malfoy was at the VIPs stands, speaking with one VIPs when he heard a loud commotion coming on the other side of the hall. At first, he'd ignored them as moved on with the conversation but something else caught his hearing.

" _Severus Snape!"_

Lucius had to rush over to see what the commotion was all about. Already forgotten his drinking companion, he went over to the centre of the hall to have a closer look.

By the time Lucius managed to successfully brought himself to the beverages' table where the commotion took place, he was shocked to see the young stunning Muggle who had tormenting his mind even now, had raised her hand and slapped the other woman dressed in a skimpy outfit.

It'd happened so fast. Before Lucius could even blinked his eyes, the young Muggle had spurted angry words at the other woman's face before she turned and wrapped her arms around Severus' neck and crushed his lips with hers.

Lucius immediately felt unknown sensation running through the back of his spine. He felt like strangling Severus right there and then.

Why? And for what?

Lucius wasn't sure himself. All he knew at the moment, that if he didn't get out of there in time, he would do something regrettable to Severus.

* * *

It was Severus who turned his head away and ended the abrupt kiss. He took her arms from his neck and released them. Wordlessly, he walked away from her and the spectaculars with whatever dignity he had left in him.

Claire touched her lips slowly. Her widened eyes watched as he walked left.

 _Oh my Lord! What have I done?_

Panic began to wash over her like a bucket of cold iced water. Before she could chase after him, a high-pitched chuckles caught her immediate attention.

"Well, well, well. Who would have thought that someone would actually be in love with Hogwart's own Greasy Git and Ex-Potion Master? Then again, he is known as the 'War Hero', all thanks to the goodwill and efforts of the Boy-Who-Lived. No women could resist such title. Not even Muggles, am I right, dearie?"

The woman whom Claire had the pleasure to slap earlier was no longer the School Nurse, Darla Lim. Instead, in her place, stood an attractive blonde hag with her hair set in elaborate and curls that contrasted oddly with her heavy-jawed face.

Her thick fingers ending in two-inch nails, painted crimson, was writing something on a notepad using an acid green quill. She carried a crocodile-skin handbag around her arms.

Her attire had also changed from the skimpy revealing dress to a more formal attire; green leather with maroon furs at the collar and sleeves with a matching skirt.

"Who are you?" Claire asked, thought she had an idea to who it was.

"Rita Skeeter. Gossip Correspondent for the Daily Prophet. At your service, dearie." Rita smirked. "Thanks to you, I've managed to gather some very juicy gossips about Severus Snape! Imagine; 'His sudden disappearance from the Wizarding World just proves that the witches and sorceresses are not his type of tea! No, he preferred to be with Muggles who are young enough to be his daughter'! No doubt the readers will go wild over this!"

"Y-You're a horrible and vile woman!" Claire pointed one finger at her. "You take back those words or else I'll-"

"'m a witch, dear. For your own good, if you ever touch me ever like that again I will-" Before Rita could see what hit her, she felt a sharp stinging sensation on her left cheek.

"I'll make sure you regret hitting me the second time, _bitch!_ " Ignoring Rita's threats, Claire rushed out of the Exit to find Severus.

* * *

 **I** t didn't take her long to find the brooding man. He was obviously out of the school grounds and was making his way home when she found him.

"Severus!" Claire broke to a sprint. "Severus, wait!"

He didn't stopped.

"Severus!" Claire finally caught up with him and grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop. "Wait! Please, just hear me out!"

"Why should I trust you when all those words you'd said to me earlier where nothing more than just lies!" He literally barked those words at her.

"Severus, I admit, it's my fault. I let that bitch Rita Skeeter got to me!"

"Rita? You mean-"

Claire nodded. "Darla Kim _IS_ Rita Skeeter. She said she has been doing a research on your whereabouts. Bloody bitch. I gave her another slap though."

Severus swore loudly. "EXCELLENT, Miss Rollins! Not only my career as a teacher in this Muggle world has literally ended, now I have that annoying Rita bloody Skeeter on my watch for twenty-four seven!"

"Why are you so bloody mad at me about?!" Now Claire was pissed! True, she shouldn't have done that, but was her kiss so bad that he had to go amok on her?

"I'm sorry I've created a scene, Severus. Had I known my kiss would be so disgusting and defective, I wouldn't have done it even if you begged me to!"

"IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!" Severus screamed.

"What?" A dumbfounded look was on Claire's face.

Severus sighed heavily. "You were not the one at faults, Miss Rollins. I am."

"I-I don't understand..." Severus pitched the bridge of his forehead. He was pacing back and forth while Claire stood still behind him.

"Miss Rollins, I am an ugly old man. I'd loss the only love of my life to a man who made my time a living hell in Hogwarts, and on top of that, I was also partly responsible for their deaths. To add more insult to my already wounded pride, I'd been forced to keep the scion between the love of my life and the man I hated with passion safe from being killed by the Dark Lord for years. In other words, I am a loser. I have no social interpersonal skills. And certainly, I shouldn't be the first man to steal away your first kiss!"

Claire's rage suddenly volume up. "Severus Snape you are NOT a loser! You're certainly NOT ugly and you are most definitely NOT responsible for stealing my first kiss! I'm the one who'd forced you into the situation! Didn't you feel your lips literally crushed into mine and not the other way around?"

Tunnel eyes filled with unless shame looked away from her gaze.

Immediately, Claire realized what was the root of the problem. It was written all over in his eyes. She'd just been too upset not to see it earlier.

Raising her hands to his cheeks, Claire forced the ex-Potion Master to look at her. She spoke in a clear tender voice, "Severus Snape, you, like the rest of the men in this world, deserved to be given a chance to love and beloved. Lily, had Lily been the one who made you felt so unworthy of yourself, Snape? Because she didn't returned the love you had for her and chose James Potter instead?"

Severus didn't move nor said a word. His eyes remained locked with her.

Claire sighed softly.

"Lily had not been a good friend to you , Severus." That caught the man attention. Immediately his expression changed from shame to hard cold.

"It had been an accident. You did not intentionally insulted her, did you? You were enraged. People who are enraged do not think with their brain, Severus. Look what I'd just did to you! The point is, if she had been a great friend, Lily would have understood that you didn't meant to call her a 'Mudblood'. She had every rights to be angry with you and called you a jerk and arse, yes. But to cut of your friendship completely because of that and just like _that?_ She had been not a good friend. Personally, after everything I heard from you about her, I really don't see how you could be loyal to her." Claire shook her head.

Severus inhaled sharply and then slapped her hands away from his face.

"Do not talk about Lily as if you'd known her the way I do." His eyes was icy cold and his voice was filled with acidic when he spoke those words to her.

Without another word, Severus made his way to the apartment.

* * *

 **T** he time was one O'clock in the morning by the time Lucius Malfoy arrived at the steps of the small Apartment he shared with his house-mates, he was slightly drunk but carnally satisfied from spending hours with another of his 'toys'－as Claire would referred them.

What he did not expect the moment he reached arrived the fifth floor of his apartment, was to find his female house-mate sitting on the floor of their front door, hugging her knees with her head down.

"Miss Rollins?"

Claire slowly lifted her head. Her eyes were red and swallowed. She pointed at the front door.

"Severus kicked me out with a spell. I couldn't get in."

Lucius raised his eyebrows. He kept his eyes on the young Muggle before he approached her, and got on to his knees, to her eye level.

"How long have you been out here?"

"Since ten."

Lucius cussed at Severus' lack of manners, before removing his coat and wrapped it around the young woman. His hand accidentally touched her cold icy skin.

"We need to get you to some place warm." He said mostly to himself than to her. Pulling her against his chest, Lucius looked down at her.

"Do you trust me, Miss Claire?"

Claire slowly nodded.

"Good." Lucius smiled briefly. "We're Apparating to the Wizarding World, the Malfoy's Manor, if you don't mind. Severus can be a complete twit when he chooses to be, so it may takes a while for you to be able to speak with him again."


	5. Chapter 5

**shoutouts to:**

 **MissesE:** I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! and what a twist, right? XD well, thanks for reading it until now, this chapter is for you. cheers! ;D **  
**

 **A/N: Heyya readers! If you don't mind, would you kindly let me know how you think of the characters so far? I know Severus and Lucius are ooc in this sotry but in my defense, I am trying to create a new perspective of the aftermaths from their point of views after the Hogwarts War ended. please tell me what you think of the OC, Claire Rollins! hate her? love her? like her? dislike her? anything! until then, cheers! ;)**

 **Chapter 5: Bonding**

 **THE** first thing that caused Claire Rollins to wake up the very next morning, was not by the bright sunlight that always blinded her through the huge window of her bedroom. Nor was it the soft cotton mattress of her single bed that made a quaky sound whenever she switched her position on the bed.

No.

Claire had woken up by the smell of fresh citrus mixed with muscular sniffed the air again. True enough, the strong pleasant scent was coming directly from her!

Slowly opening an eye, Claire took a look at her surrounding and immediately found out that she was nowhere in her own bedroom at the Apartment!

Claire sat up on the bed in panicked with her eyes widened at the spacious bedroom decorated and filled by things she only read in the Jane Austin's books.

Her instincts finally kicked in. Claire rushed out of the bed to the tall standing mirror at the corner of the room. She took a good look at herself.

Instead of wearing the dress she wore to the ball last night, Claire was wearing a silky yellow-green pyjamas that was slightly big on her small frame. She could hardly afford to own such pyjamas. So who was the owner of the pyjamas and where the hell was she?

Before Claire panicked even more, soft knocks on the bedroom door alerted her.

A house elf entered the room.

"Good morning, Missus. Did Missus had a good night sleep?"

If Claire could widened her eyes even more, she would have done just that.

Severus had told her about the magical creatures in the Wizarding World, so Claire had more or less know how they would looked like. But she'd never thought she would meet one!

"I slept well, thank you. You must be the house elf, am I correct?"

"Yes, Missus. Missus may calls Mimi whenever Missus wishes. Master Malfoy had instructed Mimi to serve Missus while Missus stays here at the manor."

It finally clicked her. Of course she'd be at the Malfoy's Manor!

Claire suddenly remembered what happened last night－ the Spring ball, Rita Skeeter, she'd kissed Severus, she and Severus had a disagreement about Lily, Severus had kicked her out of the apartment, Lucius had found her and apparated her to his manor.

Claire cringed when she remembered she had unwillingly vomited on Lucius' highly expensive tailored suit due to the Apparition. The older man hadn't been too happy about it, but he didn't scold her for it either. Instead, she had been handed over to the House-Elf Mimi for a clean up while Lucius went off in search of something comfortable for her to wear.

When Lucius had come back few minutes later, he had handed her the silky pyjamas.

" _I couldn't find anything suitable enough for you to wear, Miss Claire, and I highly doubt my late wife's night gowns are suitable for you to borrow. I could have let you borrowed Draco's pyjamas, but then, he was always quite possessive with his things. Hence, here is my pyjamas which I have already shrunken it to a smaller and suitable size for you."_

That explained why she smelled just like him.

"Missus?" Claire snapped out from her thoughts when she was being addressed.

"Ah, sorry about that! I was just thinking of something."

Mimi nodded and handed her a clean towel. "Master Malfoy asked Mimi to assist Missus to get ready for breakfast. Come, Missus! We shouldn't keep the Master waiting!"

* * *

 **Ten** minutes later, Claire, now dressed in a simple white short sleeves knee-length dress (which she had been told by Mimi, Lucius had called his personal tailor late last night and placed an order to make one for her and had it sent to the Manor earlier today), found herself being escorted by the House-elf to an exquisite dining room where Lucius was already seated at the head of the table, with breakfast already being served. He was wearing a reading glasses and was reading today's Daily Prophet newspaper.

When Claire arrived, Lucius put down his spectacles and the newspapers. He stood up and greeted her like a proper gentleman.

"Miss Claire, good morning. I take it you sleep well last night?" Grey eyes unashamedly took an appreciation of the dress he'd ordered for her.

Claire stiff slightly under his gaze. Clearing her throat, she nodded and replied, "Yes. The room was lovely and the bed was comfortable. I'm very sorry about your suit."

"Ah, yes. Well, I couldn't possibly blamed it all on you. It was partly my fault for not informing you beforehand about the effects of Apparition. Most witches and wizards vomit during the first time they have successfully Apparate. For a normal Muggle like yourself, the effect was doubled. Now, let us be seated."

Lucius pulled her chair and allowed her to be seated before returning to his own seat at the head table.

They ate wordlessly for a short while, before Lucius let out a small cough and broke the silence.

"My son would be visiting for the weekends."

"Oh?" Claire looked up and met his gaze on her.

"There's no need to fret, Miss Claire. When Draco gets here, I'll be sure to explain to him the reason why you are here in the first place. He should be here any minutes now."

"I'm not fretting." she took the napkin and wiped her mouth. "Though out of curious, is my presence here a bad thing for your son?"

Lucius heavily sighed. "If you could look beyond the tough demeanour, and the arrogance he'd been brainwashed since young and has been wearing it on his sleeves for years. Not to mention, the fact that he has tendencies to be an insufferable _prat_ while in your presence, then yes."

Claire raised an eyebrow.

Without asking for him to further explain the situation, Lucius continued.

"It is my fault for not being a good father to Draco. I loved my son with all my heart. I'd showered and spoiled him. I'd raised Draco into thinking that only Pure-Blood family like ours are superior than everyone else. Because of my strong belief and support of the Dark Lord, my late wife and son had to suffer. Because of me, I'd lose my wife in the war and Draco loses his mother. "

"Does your son hates you?" Claire asked thoughtfully.

"I don't know." Lucius said after a long pause. "But I don't blame him if he hates me. Since Narcissa's death, I haven't been much of a help to him either. I ran away, remember? I pushed everything onto Draco's laps and ran away from responsibilities."

"But you have been working while you are still in the Muggle's world! I went to your office before, remember?"

"Yes. But work and being a Father are two different things, Miss Rollins. While I'm still working for the sake of the Malfoy's family, I haven't been there for Draco when he needed me the most."

Soft footsteps could be heard from the dining room outside.

Lucius quickly stood up and headed to the entrance of the dining room.

"That must be Draco."He was right.

Draco Malfoy stood at the entrance of the dining room, looking exhausted and tired as ever.

" _Bonjour,_ père." The young Malfoy greeted.

"Bonjour, Draco. Comment a été ton voyage?" Lucius pulled his only son into an affectionate embrace, which the latter returned.

"Not bad, Father." Draco smiled briefly at his father. Something then caught his eyes at the dining table, and his smile quickly disappeared.

"What is _she_ doing here, Father?" Draco asked, fury evident in tone of his voice.

"Draco, be nice to our guest."

"Her bloody face is all over today's Daily Prophet!" He stormed over the dining table and took the newspaper, before flung the front page at Claire's face, in disguise.

Claire took the paper and gasped aloud at the big picture of her kissing Snape at the ball. She skimmed the headline news under the picture:

 _Sorry Fellow Witches, the War Hero Is Taken!_

 _Six months after the death and defeated of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the news that our Local Hero, Severus Snape, vanished from the surface of the Wizarding World had created havoc for everyone, especially amongst the female Community._

 _It is with great pleasure that I, Rita Skeeter, went for an undercover mission to see the whereabouts of the Hogwarts' famous Potion Master and ex-Headmaster and what is he doing currently at the moment._

 _It was a hard task indeed, for it has taken me months to be able to track down his trails. But nothing is impossible for this loyal reporter whose passion to deliver the juicy gossips for the eager readers!_

 _With a sufficient amount of time and great patients, I'd managed to track down of his whereabouts. Apparently after the chaos Mr. Snape had made in the Wizarding World, he has decided to settle down within the Muggle's Society! He'd even found a job as a Chemistry Professor in one of Muggle's Elite High School - Easton Academy. But wait! That's not the shocking news yet!_

 _While I was undercover, I'd found out that Mr. Snape has found his 'Princess Charming'_ _－_ _a young Muggle whom, to my own surprise, was young enough to be his daughter!_

 _Shocking, are we?_

 _Well, we can clearly see why the Potion Master took interest in her._

 _In her own words, the future Mrs. Snape had said to me, "because I'm a hella' of a kisser!" is why she was chosen by the reclusive Potion Master of Hogwarts..._

 _Honestly, how could any man resists such a vicious young woman? We'll hope to see news about little Snape any time soon!_

" _What?"_ Claire snapped. "That bitchy cow!"

All eyes were on her.

"Take no concerns about what was written by Rita Skeeter, Miss Claire." Claire didn't hear a word Lucius had sad as she was still busily swearing the vile witch reporter with colourful words, down to her own grave.

Draco looked stunned at her sudden outburst, but he quickly recovered. Turning to speak with his father, he pointed a finger at Claire.

"I want this gold digger out of this manor NOW!"

"Draco-"

" _Excuse me?_ What makes you think I want any of his fortunes or even your inheritance? I have more dignity and pride than that!" Claire glared sharply at the young Malfoy.

"What else would you want to be with an old goat with him then? Do you really think I would be dumb enough to believe that you aren't in for his money? That you sincerely love him? Tell me, how much does my father pays you to _sleep_ with him?"

"Draco!" Lucius' voice boomed throughout the entire manor.

A blade could cut the tension air between the three of them.

Taking a deep breath, Lucius exhaled before he walked out of the dining room.

"Come along, Draco. We'll have a lot to discuss. Miss Rollins, please finish your meal and later return to your room while my son and I have a little talk in _private_."

Draco glared menacingly at Clare before he followed his father to his office.

Even before they reached to Lucius' office, Draco already starting.

"Room? She has a room now? What else does she owes in this damn Manor that I don't know about?"

Claire returned to her seat, but her appetite was already gone. She didn't even noticed how badly her knees were shaking until she finally sat down. Taking her drink, she desperately gulped it before putting it down back on the table. Wiping her mouth using the back of her hand, Claire stood up and was about to call the House-Elf when the yelling coming from the room upstairs echoed loudly.

"She's old enough to be your daughter, you filthy old man!"

"Do not talk to your Father like that, Draco! You don't know what you're talking about or the whole story!"

"Or do I really? How about the many times you bought in those filthy women to the Manor for a shag? Do not try to deny it, _Father!"_

The argument continued until Claire finally decided she couldn't take it anymore and had enough.

"Mimi!"

A loud pop, and Mimi was already standing before her.

"Can Mimi be a service to Missus?"

"Yes. Can you perhaps take me out - anywhere away from here, please! I do not want to stay in my room while hearing those two yelling at each other's throats!"

"Mimi can take Missus to the a private Rose garden behind the manor. If that's what Missus wishes."

"Lead the way, please."

* * *

 **THE** Rose garden behind the manor was lovely. Claire had never seen such a beautiful garden with roses of all kind that many, her whole life! To add to her pleasure, the way to the garden were covered with flagstone and gravel walkway.

Mimi had told her as they made their way to the said garden, it was Lucius' late wife's idea to make the Rose Garden. She had also been the only one to manage the the gardening to her taste.

While Claire never met with the woman, she had to give the woman credits for her delicate taste for the garden.

When Claire finally arrived at the centre of the spiral designed garden, she found awaiting her were a cup of hot tea with rose petal and a plate of cookies on the Victorian garden table and chairs.

"Are these for me?"

"Yes, Missus." Mimi nodded.

"Oh, thank you! That's very thoughtful of you, Mimi." Claire smiled wonderfully at the blushed House-Elf.

Taking her seat, Claire inhaled the fresh air and the wonderful scent around her. Mimi had taken her leave and returned to the manor, leaving Claire all alone in the big garden, but she didn't mind.

Sighing, her mind wandered to yesterday's event and Severus. Was he still angry with her? He might be. Lucius did told her that Severus could be a twik when he chooses to be. With his stubbornness, Claire had no doubt he could be a stubborn old git if he wishes.

What concerned Claire the most was if he had read today's Daily Prophet and his reaction to it. Thinking about the newspaper ruined her mood to calm down again. Thus, she put that thought at the back her mind, tried to relax and enjoyed the view.

* * *

 **About** half an hour later, Claire heard footsteps heading to where she was currently standing near the Dolphin's Fountain, somewhere in the garden.

Turning her back to look at that someone, half-expecting it to be Draco, she was shocked to see the older Malfoy was half-dragging his right foot, and a ugly bruised cheekbone on his left and a right cut on the corner of his lips.

"Oh my God! What happened?"

"It is as you can obviously see, Miss Rollins. Draco threw a punch at me after I'd explained everything and then told him to keep his mouth shut about you staying here in the manor. "

Claire gawked. " This is ridiculous and outrageous! I'll have a word with him and then, I'll _leave!_ "

"Spare your breath, Miss Rollins. Draco has already left the manor. He left right after he'd assaulted me."

"I'll leave regardless, then! Goodbye, Lucius." Before she could even take another step, Lucius grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"You stay."

"Unhand me." Lucius tightened his grip and said nothing.

"Seriously Malfoy, if you don't unhand me right now, I' will _hit_ you. You know damn well that I will."

"I need someone to fix this hideously ugly bruise."

"Ask Mimi to do it for you then!" Claire protested.

"You will fix this bruise and you will stay until I declare it is safe for you to go back to your Muggle little world again, _wretch._ "

 _Oh no he didn't._

Claire snapped her arm from his grip and glared sharply at the older man.

"You don't owe me, Lucius Malfoy. Don't you dare ever talk to me like I'm one of your _toys_ ever again. I tolerate Snape's sharp tongue, because he never tries to _control_ me."

Crossing her arms, Claire said, "I'll stay and fix your damn bruise. But talk to me like that again and I will leave within seconds, Malfoy."

* * *

" **You** do realise I have _zero_ knowledge about magic nor do I even know how to incarnate one, right?"

Claire stood against his wooden table with her arms, once they were in Lucius' office. Lucius came back from the bathroom carrying a small salve in his hand. He handed the salve to Claire who raised an eyebrow at the cover name.

"' _Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes_ _'_ －Bruise Removal Paste _._ What an odd name. Where did you get this from?"

"I had to be very discreet in order to get that salve. It's said to heal bruise within an hour." he didn't directly answered her question.

Claire stood up straight and wait for Lucius to sit down.

"You wish to discuss something with me, do you? That's the only reason I can think of why you would chose me to help treat your bruise when you could have use magical healing or have the House-elf to heal you."

Lucius looked at her for a longest time and nodded.

"Okay. We can discuss as I put this salve on you." She stood in front of him. "Lift up your face, please."

As Claire bent slightly down to dab the yellow thick paste on Lucius' bruised cheekbone, he couldn't help but to comment on her wonderful body scent.

"What fragrance are you wearing, Miss Claire?"

Claire looked up at him. "None. I soaked myself this morning with Hibiscus scented soap though."

"Really? You smell a lot like a white citrus instead of Hibiscus. It's delightful to the nose." Claire raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything.

After she finished putting on the paste, she excused herself to the bathroom and washed her hand. Once Claire returned, Lucius ushered her to take a seat, which she did with her legs crossed.

Lucius cleared his throat. "Thank you for your help, Miss Claire."

"You're very welcome."

"Before we start, I would like to sincerely apologise for the way I acted back at the Garden, Miss Claire. I want you to know it wasn't my intention whatsoever to control you whatsoever. Or at least, I will try not to."

Claire nodded. "Understood and you're forgiven."

He smiled briefly at her. "I would like to suggest to you to stay in the Manor for a time being."

"Why?"

"To avoid being stalked and targeted by one Rita Skeeter. That cow is every businessmen nightmare. Or anyone else's as a matter of fact. You only need to stay here until the rumours of you and Severus died down. You may go back and forth at your place. But I'd prefer if you stay at the manor at the moment."

"No." Claire shook her head. "What about Severus? He's the victim here. I can't just leave him alone like this and let that bitch Rita Skeeter spread more nasty rumours about him! I'm responsible for all that'd happened last night!"

"I've been meaning to ask you, Miss Claire, which I hope you don't take any offence to what I'm about to ask." Lucius looked at her thoughtfully. There was something in his eyes that Claire couldn't figured out what.

"Bear in mind, I don't judge you should you say yes to these questions: Are you and Severus lovers? Do you love him? Does he loves you? Are you both in love?"

Lucius knew the moment he addressed those questions at her, he was out of character and definitely out of his mind. What power possessed him to ask her such questions in the first place? As if he was _interested_ to know her personal life and what they were doing behind the closed doors.

 _He had to know._

Lucius had to know. He had to know if there were anything going on at all between his good friend and the young Muggle. If there was, he could finally know where he stood between them and even supported them, perhaps.

If there wasn't anything between them, that they were simply good friends. _Best friends._ Then, maybe, just _maybe,_ Lucius could-

A sincere, full of life laughter came from the young Muggle that rang like a soft tune in his ears. It was the young Muggle.

She was laughing at _him._

Claire covered one hand on her mouth.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Malfoy. I-"

" _Lucius."_

"I knew it was coming. I knew you were going to ask that question to either one of us, but I'd never knew you would be so forward!" Claire giggled again while shaking her head.

Lucius patiently wait with a steady smile until she could continued with his fingers clammed together in front of him across the table. If he moved over the table, his hands would have touched her bare knees. He kept his eyes focused only on her face and not to any other part of her.

Claire cleared her throat. "To answer your question, Lucius, no there isn't anything at all going on between Severus and I. Though, I do love him," Lucius felt his heart sunk a little bit. "But it was more of a platonic love between us. I care for him and I'm concern about his well beings. Which is why, I felt so deeply depressed when he kicked me out of the apartment last night."

"But you've showed a lot of attention and concerns that are sometimes unnecessarily and unwanted toward him. People could have easily mistaken you two are lovers."

Claire unexpectedly smiled at him, to Lucius' surprised. It wasn't a cheeky smile or any other kind of smile, but a truthful sincere smile with a touch of sympathy.

"You and I both know that Severus isn't an easy man to deal with, yes?"

He nodded.

"Therefore, you should know how differences the two of you. Lucius, you are the light, whereas he is the dark. You two are the total opposite of each other yet similar in many ways. It'd taken me the whole day of today to realize about this." Claire shook.

"Elaborate , Miss Claire?"

"We are three different people, Lucius. Amongst us, Severus is the one who'd suffered the most in terms of love. While you have experienced falling in love, being in love and have that loved returned, Severus has experienced of falling in love, having that love unrequited and then left with a broken scarred heart. Men

like Severus who had suffered such terrible childhood memories only needed one thing in their life; to love and to beloved, unconditionally. He never got that from his parents. When Severus met Lily, she had been the first person whom he'd opened up to. After their friendship fell out, he had no one other than the great Albus Dumbledore. After he died, the rest, I'm sure you knew what happened."

Lucius thoughtfully nodded.

They both stayed in silence for a while, before Lucius asked, "What about you, Miss Claire? You said we three are different people in terms of love. Have you been in love before and have that love returned?"

For the first time since Lucius had known her, the fire in her eyes shortly died. A sad smile graced on her lips.

"I'd fallen in love, been in love, and had that love returned with the same guy for four years."

"What happened?"

Claire looked at him with the same smile.

"He died. From Brain Cancer, last Autumn. He was a great guy. The humblest and kindness man I had the pleasure of meeting in this life time."

Exactly at that moment, Lucius discovered the real answer what he's been looking for:

The reason why this young attractive spirited Muggle had no problem caring for Severus like the way she did, and defying a Malfoy like a Queen. She also did not seemed to be eager of getting into his pants to get her hands on his great fortunes and status, like the rest of the women.

Her heart had already being stolen by another man.

"Miss Rollins," Lucius' throat felt drained. "My condolence for your loss."

He reached out both hands at her and held her hands.

"I'm very sorry." Grey eyes filled with true sadness when he met with hers.

"Thank you, Lucius."

They stayed in a comfortable silence for a short while when Claire decide she needed to use the wash-room, preferable in her temporarily room. Lucius had offered to escort her back but Claire politely said no need.

"I think I'm able to find my way to my room, Lucius. Thank you, anyway." she smiled politely at him.

"I enjoyed our talk, Miss Claire. Please, if there's anything you would like to talk about, I'll be happy to hear it."

"Thank you, Lucius."

Claire was about to turn the knob when she stopped. Turning to look back at the handsome Malfoy Patriarch, and said, "I never meant to insult Lily Evans last night at all."

With another small smile, she turned the knob, opened the door and closed it back again.

"How much have you heard?" Lucius turned to look at the black shadow hiding behind the curtains near the windows.

"Everything."

"Why are you even here, Severus?"

"I missed her. The Apartment－our _home_ doesn't _feels_ the same without her. I've never knew solitude could be so _lonely_ up until now." Lucius smiled briefly at the miserable look on the dark haired man.

"She should be down within an hour for dinner. I'm sure you know where to find her room?"

"Of course."


	6. Chapter 6

**Shoutouts to:**

 **MissesE:** Once again, thank you for the review! I'm glad you liked Claire! here's for you! :D

 **notwritten:** Thank you for review! Hope you'll enjoy this chapter! keep smiling ;)

 **Chapter 6: Surprise, Surprise**

 **THAT** same night, Claire came out the shower, covered by only a robe she'd found in the bathroom, she found a nice round-neck sleeveless knee-length cream dress with big black ribbon, completed with a matching set of jewellery and low heels at the front awaited her.

Smiling, she took a closer look at the dress for inspection.

Yep. Definitely Lucius' taste. Apparently the man had a thing with sophistication. Not that she blamed the man.

After all, he was a Malfoy.

If there was anything Claire had learned after spending some time with the Malfoy Patriarch, was that he was the classic old-fashioned gentleman; opening the door for the lady, standing up when a lady walks into the room, etc...

Claire didn't mind at all really. It felt really nice to be able to depend on a man at times. After all, people often complained that chivalry was dead.

It didn't long for Claire to put on the dress and prepared herself for the night. While she was about to put on the jewellery, there were couple of soft knocks on her door.

"It's open!"

When the person who knocked on her door didn't come in, and continued to knock on the door albeit very softly, Claire got up from her bed and opened the door.

She was expecting Mimi or even Lucius to inform her dinner was served when she opened the door. Neither of them were standing at her door. Instead, she came face-to-face with the man whom she had grown very closed these past few months.

"Severus."

"Good Evening, Miss Rollins."

Severus was well-dressed for tonight. He wore a dark blue turtle-neck long sleeves jacket she'd brought for him the other day when she'd found out his favourite jacket has a hole in it while sorting and folding their laundries and decided to buy one for him.

Severus had been shocked and mildly angered that she would sorted his laundries too. Nevertheless, he was happy to know that she cared for him enough to buy her a new jacket.

Claire snapped out of her thought when she realised the older man was still waiting for her to invite him in.

"Oh! Sorry. Please come on in." She moved aside to let him in.

Severus took a quick glance at her room. Very well done for a guest's room. He then focused his view on the younger woman standing at the door, looking very nervous in his presence.

"Miss Rollins, the reason why I'm here is to make amends with you," Severus decided the best way to handle this is to be direct and straight to the point. "For what'd happened last night."

"I've something to tell you too, Severus. I didn't mean to-" He lifted one hand in the air to silence her.

"Please, let me finish what I wanted to say, Miss Rollins." He took a deep breath and exhaled. "I'd thought over about what you'd said... About Lily. Now, while I don't fully agreed of what you'd thought of her, you made a good point yourself. Lily had been a good companion for me while I grew up in that hellhole's environment I'd called a family. She had been the only one who'd kept me sane until I'd decided to pursue Dark Arts, and she, well Potter, of all the blocks in Hogwarts."

Severus deeply sighed. "I knew what solitude is, Miss Rollins. I'd seek for it and have been living it for the past decades, heck, for the rest of my life! But never before have I ever felt so alone while living in that apartment－ _home_ , as you'd kindly referred it, without _you_ in it..."

Severus looked at her straight in the eyes. There were emotions, emotions he couldn't say it directly to her but could only showed her.

Claire smiled.

"Well, what can I say? It takes a strong woman to deal with you, after all." She smirked at him.

"Don't push it, minx." Severus let out a small smile. Hesitatingly, he offered a handshake to her, but Claire slapped his hand away.

"I don't want a handshake. C'mere you!" without waiting for his protest, Claire pulled the man twice her age and bigger her size into a hug.

She felt his whole body stiff as she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face on his shoulder.

"I missed you." It took him awhile before Severus wrapped his arms around her and let out a long sigh.

"I missed you too."

Claire smiled. "This doesn't change anything between us,right?"

"No."

"Are you still in love with Lily Evans?"

"Always."

"But you do care about me...Right?"

"Yes. Though you tent to get under my skin at times, but it's tolerable now."

Claire snorted and loosen her arms from the man before she pulled away. She expected Severus to flinch, but instead of doing so, he laid his hands on both of her cheeks, much to her surprised.

"Lily Evans will always be the love of my life. But you, _you_ are the one true friend I'd always wanted to have in my life. Thank you, Miss Claire. For putting up with me and my bitterness this long and stubbornly refused to quit when things got bad between us. In order to honour our renewal friendship, I shall promise to always be watching over you, at least until you've found someone who's worthy enough to replace me. Be warned that should there be any young lads who wishes to have you, he will have to get through _me_ first. Is that understood?"

"Ooh, _Scary._ I can with that." Claire giggled and nodded her head. "Thank you, Severus."

She kissed his cheek. "You're a wonderful friend."

Taking his hand, Claire opened the door and exited the door.

* * *

 **"There** is something I would like to bring attention to the both of you." Severus broke peaceful silence while they were having dinner.

"What is it, Severus?" Lucius asked at the Head table.

Using wordless magic, Severus summoned this morning's Daily Prophet. Claire's left right twitched as the front page of her kissing Severus was displayed clearly before her.

"Just to inform you gentlemen, I've already made a plan to have this thing burn after dinner."

"I'm afraid that wouldn't do, Miss Rollins." Severus gestured her to pick up the newspaper. "The thing that I would like for us to discuss is the picture of us, unfortunately. Pick it up, Miss Rollins, and have a look."

Claire grunted but did as she was told.

"Okay, what are we looking at here?"

"Look carefully and tell me what do you see." That made Claire raised her eyebrow. She wanted to state the obvious but decided to hold her tongue.

Severus didn't look like he was the type of man who would rubbed something like this to her face just to teach her a lesson. Besides, they've already made amends, right?

Surely there must something in there that he wanted her to...

"Holy _shit._ "

There was something about the picture the photographer had taken that made her gasped.

At first glance, nothing seemed to be wrong with the picture. One would have to look carefully and hard at the whole thing in order to find what Severus was trying to point out:

It was the angle of the picture when it was taken - the picture was taken from where the couple's stood! At the background, stood one Rita Skeeter in disguised as the sluttish school nurse and the rest of the still gawking crowds.

Claire looked up and immediately met with Severus' hollowed eyes, who firmly nodded his head.

"May I, Miss Claire?" Lucius reached out and took the newspaper from her. He looked at the picture carefully.

The picture was slightly disturbed for him to see, but Lucius put that thought behind him and focused on what he was supposed to see.

It didn't take Lucius to figure it out. Putting the newspaper down, he cleared his throat.

"Well then, what do you have in plan?"

"What plan?" Claire asked in confused.

"Miss Rollins, the fact that someone had taken picture of us at such closed up distance is troublesome and dangerous in itself."

"Well," Claire cleared her throat, "I'm not too sure about 'dangerous' but it is kind of disturbing. But it's not possible. I mean we do have camera lenses that captures from far away distance nowadays. Whoever it was, maybe they decided to use it?"

"Possible." Lucius nodded. "However, what Severus meant by dangerous is there's a possibility magic was involved where the picture was taken."

"How so?"

"It doesn't matter how it was used, Miss Rollins! The point is, someone was using it to capture us and we need to find out who it was!" Severus snarled at her.

 _"Okay!"_ Claire grunted under her breathe. _God._

She then rolled her eyes. "We'll catch whoever the damn bastard is, okay? No need to go all hell-bent on me."

Claire then turned her full attention to the Head table. "Want to tell me what got -face here all worked up?"

Lucius smirked at the nickname and wiped his mouth with the napkin. "Well, Miss Clare, _face_ here is mostly concerned about your own safety."

"Do tell me more, Lucius." Claire whispered playfully.

Unknown to her, her little harmless act had made something inside of Lucius stirred before he quickly composed himself.

Clearing his throat, Lucius whispered, "Death-Eaters, Miss Claire."

Instantly, Claire sat straight. She eyed on the two older men carefully. Both had unidentified emotions in their eyes.

Claire had been told by Severus about the Death-Eaters. She couldn't sleep for weeks after she'd heard and, by her own wish, seen what they'd done to the poor and innocent victims－especially the women.

Claire had locked herself in her room for nearly a month without any food and just drinks, before Severus had busted her bedroom door and forced the Calming Draught and the Dreamless Sleep portion on her, to get rid of those horrible images from her head.

Since that incident, she tried to stay away from any Death-Eaters topics, out of respect for their privacy and for the sake of her sane mind.

It was Severus who broke the spell by clearing his throat.

"After the War ended, and the death of the Dark Lord, many of the surviving Death-Eaters were captured and arrested. Lucius and I have given a pardon in exchanged that we gave out information about the rest of the Death-Eaters who went for hiding. We called it 'Project DEATH.'" Claire listened attentively as Severus continued to speak.

"As a matter of fact, the reason why we are at the Muggle World has a little bit to do with DEATH. Lucius here, in fact, is an active participator for DEATH even more so than I am. His method of gathering information about the Death-Eaters was informal yet very productive."

Claire raised an eyebrow and looked at the said man. "Oh really?"

"Indeed. He's the Minister's favourite man now. Their _lap-dog._ "

" _Severus."_ Lucius glared at his good friend. "I appreciate you wanted to boost my ego right in front of Miss Claire, but kindly let it low, if you don't mind?"

"Of course, Lucius. Forgive me." Severus raised his cup and drank the fire-whiskey.

Claire cleared her throat. "So, about this DEATH, how many people do you have in total, if you don't mind me asking? And what does he means by informal method, Lucius? I mean surely, with your assets as the Malfoy Patriarch, with your influence and power, you could get any information that you want with a snap of a finger, right?"

Lucius let out a deep chuckles, as well as Severus.

"My dear, you have absolutely no idea how innocent those words sounded like... _Do you?_ " Lucius stared at her through his glass of red wine. "Influence and power could only get you far, but it won't be able to get you to where you want it to be. Sometimes, all you need is your assets and little push to get the work done."

"I don't-"

"It means, Miss Rollins, Lucius has been using his assets to get the information he needed."

"That's _exactly_ what I'd just said!" Claire said exasperatedly.

"No, no, Miss Rollins. He meant his _other_ assets." Severus poured another Firewhiskey's bottle to his cup.

"Well what other assets could he possibly－Oh. _OH!"_ Hands covered her increasing blush on her cheeks. She dared not to look at the man sitting at the Head table, with a smirk on his face.

Severus reached out and tapped her back softly. He didn't even bothered to hide his grin as the young Muggle covered her red face with both hands.

"So," Claire took her glass, a plain ice water she'd requested from Mimi a while ago, and dipped her finger to her drink, ignoring the looks she received from both men, before rubbing her cheeks with the cool water. "T-The ladies you'd often brought back home, they were your..."

"Ah, yes." Lucius nodded. "They were very useful and easy to get with. Those women knew more about the Death-Eaters more than anyone could ever afford to give information." He then smirked. "Give them what they wanted, and they will give you the same deal. Or even more."

"Okay, spare me the details." She gulped on her drink.

"Back to the topic on hands, the reason why we need to find out who took the photo, is to avoid the Death-Eaters from finding out about you, Miss Rollins. As far as we concerned, the entire Wizarding world now only knew you as a Muggle who is also my 'Princess Charming'. That doesn't mean they won't stop digging until they discover your true identity." Severus sneered. It wasn't to say he was disguised by her, oh definitely no. Unfortunately, it was the insult to the name that got under his skin.

"Why not just ask the bitchy cow, Rita Skeeter? For all we know, she might be the one who-"

"That's impossible." Severus rapidly shook his head.

Claire raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms. "Oh? And how did you know it wasn't her, Severus?"

Severus began to fidget uncomfortably on his chair. He raised a hand and brushed his hair to the back. "Because I'd already _asked_ her about it!"

"And you'd actually _believed_ her? Really, Snape!"

"I made her drink the _Veritaserum._ " Severus countered.

"What the hell is that?"

"A Truth serum, Miss Claire. The finest, powerful and perhaps, dangerous weapon to be used against any wizards and witches who do not know how to resist it either by its antidote or _Occlumency_ _._ _"_ Explained Lucius.

Claire sighed, grunted and scratched her head in frustration. "So, if it's not her, who is it then?"

"Someone named Allen Roberts. He's a half-blood wizard who works as a freelance photographer. According to the old cow, Allen had been the one who approached her with the information of my whereabouts. He had also been the one who offered for the photo of the two of us to be published under her name, with a request that his name will not be mentioned."

"So said Allen Roberts has a little grudge on you, Severus?" asked Lucius.

Severus shrugged. "I've never heard of him before nor was he a student of Hogwarts. I've checked."

"Well, at least we have a lead." Lucius stood up. He walked over to Claire and offered her his hand.

"Miss Claire, would you mind joining me for a little night walk in the garden?"

"I'd love to. That is, if that's okay with you, Severus? Cause I need you to send me back home and-"

"You won't be going back, Miss Rollins." Severus cut in shortly. "You will be staying here at the Manor where you will be safe until we get to the bottom of this problem."

"For how long? Weeks? Months? Years? Honestly, you two! I doubt they will find me anyway! I'll be the last person they'd suspect Severus to be with! On top of that, I have two jobs waiting for me! How do you expect to keep me here without informing them that I couldn't come in to work because some lunatic may or may not be after my very life?"

"Ah, that problem has already been arranged." Severus smirked. "Apparently being your 'uncle' paid off. I'd simply told your bosses that my 'precious niece' needed a little break from work. Hence, I would be taking you away to home to meet with the rest of the family for a little while. They were kind, your bosses. They'd told me to tell you they understood what you're going through and allowed two months of rest. Albeit, it's unpaid."

"UNPAID?! B-But-"

"Now, now Miss Claire. Severus has gone the extra length to ensure that your safety is what most important more than any money counts."

Claire gave him a sharp glare. Of course it's very easy for him to say that to not worry about money. He's a _bloody_ Malfoy for God's sake!

Lucius sighed, knowing what she was thinking at his words. "If it makes you happy, Miss Claire, I will give you weekly allowance-"

"I don't want your money, Malfoy!"

"-In exchange, while you're staying with me, you'll be my personal assistant at home. Meaning that I need you to handle everything that is DEATH related. Is that agreeable?"

 _No bad. His offer was highly tempting. But..._

"How much are you willing to pay me?"

At this, Lucius smirked. "£300,000－your total earning for five months from you working both as a waitress and salesperson. My dear, I'm a fairly generous man. If you do your work well, Miss Claire, I will pay you more than what being offered. Call it benefits for your hard work."

 _Sweet Mother of-_

"Deal."

 _It was a big fat cheque, and she would be crazy NOT to accept it. Besides it was a legal job. Not to mention,this DEATH matters sounded very intriguing._

Lucius smiled and offered his arms. Together, the two of them headed to the garden.

* * *

 **"COULD** you kindly tell me more of the young lad who'd stolen your heart, Miss Clare?"

Claire was surprised by the sudden question the moment they sat down on the grassy field, surrounded by the beautiful roses.

Lucius gazed softly at her.

Claire took out the white rose he'd put on behind her ear and smell it. She avoiding his gaze.

"Why are you interested to know?"

"Just because." Lucius shrugged. He was getting tired to deny it. Denying _her._

He didn't know how it happened, but it did. He was _attracted_ to her.

The great Lucius Malfoy was attracted to a Muggle.

No doubt Arthur Weasley would died out of happiness should he ever heard about this.

Lucius was attracted to her strange yet fascinating personality. He was attracted to her fierce and in-your-face attitude. He was attracted to her big heart for willingly to befriend Severus, despite their harsh shaking friendship at first, and even saw the man behind the monster. He was attracted to her wits, her sense-of-humour, her _laughter_.

Merlin, her laughter. The sweet sound of it was enough to make him mad!

When Lucius finally admitted that the feelings he had toward the young Muggle who was young enough to become his daughter, was more than just admiration, he was bloody terrified.

He had every intentions to ignore her after the Spring Ball, to kept his distance away from her, and to forget whatever feelings he had toward her was nothing but _lust_ －because he missed his late wife. He missed Narcissa.

One passionate night with the young Muggle would finally get rid of these surreal and ridiculous feelings he had for her, Lucius had once argued. But at last, his morale got the best of him when he'd showed up at the apartment they both shared later that same night of the ball－she had been sitting in front of their front door for Merlin knows how long with red puffy eyes, trembled from the cold and had told him that his good friend had kicked her out of their home.

Since that night, Lucius had tried to be civil with her, as much as he could possibly be. When Draco showed up, made a scene and insulted her, that was when Lucius had realised how terribly messed up he really was.

He'd defended _her_ against his own son!

He'd defended her rights to be in the Manor as if she was the new Madam of the Manor his son had to respect! He defended as if she had every rights to be in the Manor, which had gotten him hit by Draco that he oh so rightfully deserved.

Then, Lucius remembered what his son had said to him and the threat he'd left behind:

" _You'd better solve this problem quickly, Father, before it gets any worse than it already had. I will never accept a Muggle into the Malfoy Family. Sink or swim, you have to get rid of the disgusting feelings you have toward her. Or else, I'll tell everyone and I'll disown your every rights as the Patriarch of the Malfoy's family."_

" _You have no rights to do that to me, Draco."_

" _Do I really? While you were serving you time in Azkaban, Mother had my name being put on as the Patriarch of the family. Now that I'm at the legal age, I have all the rights to the Malfoy's fortunes. Hence, the rights to disown you. Think wisely, Father."_

"Lucius?" Her soft voice brought him back to reality.

"Are you all right?" Lucius shook his head and put on a small smile.

He took her hands and kissed the back of her palms. "I'm all right. Forgive me, Miss Claire, I shouldn't be forcing you to tell me about your beloved when you not yet ready."

"His name was Caleb. Caleb James." Claire looked at her hands still being held on by Lucius. "He was a prep boy I met back at the university. Silence but smart, he had a sense of deep compassion and always be there for you when you need him."

Brown eyes met with dark grey eyes.

Claire broke to a small smile. "I'll always be missing him."

Lucius nodded slowly. He got up and offered her his hands.

"We should get some sleep now, Miss Claire."

* * *

 **EARLIER** the next day, Lucius, Severus and Claire went to the Diagon Alley, in searched for the private office of Allen Roberts.

For Claire Rollins, it was a thrilling experience to be in Diagon Alley. She was obviously excited to finally stepped away from the Malfoy's Manor and into the Wizarding World. She had to be discreet not to be identified by the others though.

Which was why, she had to wear a disguise. Severus had preferred her to drink Polyjuice to save the time, but Claire had put her foot down and demanded that she would wear a Muggle's disguise.

Here she was, with a black curled wig, and in a dress robe (which Lucius had kindly had it tailored for her), looking around her like tourist when she felt someone grabbed her arm.

 _"Miss Rollins!"_ A sharp baritone voice hissed at her. Once she'd heard thousand of times before.

Standing before her with a sneer, was not the ex-potion Mastion of Hogwarts. Rather, it was a young, good looking man in his late twenties, dressed in a wizard robe. The only familiar thing about his whole feature were the permanent scowl and his tunnel endless eyes.

" _._ "Claire smiled sweetly, hiding the smirk that threatened to come out any time now.

'Darcy' snarled at her before he pulled her arm closer to him and whispered as they walked away.

"I'd appreciate your liking to use my _name_ often, Miss Rollins. Bear in mind, if it wasn't for the bloody Allen Roberts' sake, I would have blast you away to the oblivion for not only convince me, but made me transformed to this _ridiculously_ figure－from your bloody Muggle's storybook!"

Claire had to giggle at his angry outburst. "Oh, _hush_ now, Darcy! You should be glad that I didn't ask you to refer me as Elizebeth Bennets. Now that's what they say being _'true to one's character'_ , ain't it?"

The couple proceeded in silent and finally reached in front of an old building with a creative design on the signboard that says－ _'Robert's Photography's Studio - We'll snap beautiful pictures just for you'._

Lucius was already waiting for them by the time they arrived.

"Thank Merlin you both are here! Did you by any chance, gotten yourself lost, Miss Claire?" Lucius asked.

"Err, for a moment, _yes._ " Claire guiltily nodded.

"I think we've wasted enough time. Let's just get this done and over with." Severus walked over and pulled the door.

The door cracked soundly before a young pretty blonde greeted them behind the desk.

"Welcome! How may I help you?"

Severus approached the desk read the name board on her desk, Agnes.

"Miss Agnes, we would like to see with Mr. Allen Roberts, please."

"Oh, have you make an appointment with him?"

"No."

"May I ask what this is about, Sir?"

Severus groaned and snapped his finger, almost instantly, his '' transfiguration spell dissolved in the thin air. It replaced with the Severus Snape that everyone feared.

Using a wordless spell, he summoned yesterday's morning newspaper and pointed out at front page.

"To ask him some questions."

"I'm sorry, Sir. I'm afraid is not in at the moment. You'll have to make an appointment-"

Severus slammed his hands on the desk. "Listen, girl. Either _you_ let us in right now or we'll let ourselves in. Either way, it won't be pretty. I can guarantee it."

 _"Severus."_ Claire warned.

Before Agnes could answer, a crack sound from the room behind her was opened.

"Agnes? Is something the matter?" Asked a male voice from inside.

"I'm sorry, Allen. These people are persistence..."

 _It can't be._

Claire's eyes grew widened at the sound of the voice. she felt her heart beating rapidly in her ears.

 _How could this be?_

Changing her gaze from Severus to the man standing in from of her.

 _B-but that's impossible! He's already..._

Claire let out a loud gasp and she stumbled backwards, into Lucius, who caught her just in time before she fell down on the ground due to her weakened knees.

 _Caleb._

"Miss Claire? Are you all right?" Lucius asked in concerned. Her face was pure white as the snow. She looked as if she'd seen a ghost.

While the two older men were busily fussing over her, a clear strained voice broke their fuss.

"Claire? Claire Rollins? It's that you?" Said the young man, Allen Roberts, in shocked.

He looked very disturbing like an older and matured version of Harry Potter, with an exception of his slightly longer messy hair and dark grey eyes, and slightly lean, muscular figure he wore a blue checks shirt with a jet black pants.

Even Severus snarled and swore silently when their eyes met. Lucius who was still holding onto Claire in his arms, subconsciously tightened his grip on the Muggle.

Claire kept her eyes focused on the younger man. After she recovered from her shock, waves of emotion came to her all at once.

She pushed herself away from Lucius and walked toward the stunned young man. Looking directly into his eyes, she whispered slowly.

"Caleb Roberts Johnson. How nice it is to see _you_ again."


	7. Chapter 7

**Shoutouts to:**

 **MissesE** _: Thanks again for your review! I Like the name Caleb too! And you're welcome :) this Chapter is for you!_

 **notwritten** _: Thanks again for your review! Smile always, my dear :D_

 _Exactly that moment, Lucius Malfoy II decided that he would be the pillar to her scattered world._

 **Chapter 7:Confrontation**

 **"CALEB** Roberts Johnson."

"You've always been ignored of the 'James', Claire." Caleb stated as he sat down on his chair behind the desk in his office. "It's Caleb-JAMES Robert Johnson."

Claire snorted loudly. "Whatever. It's just a part of your long _name._ "

Caleb took off his glasses and put if on the table. Hands reach over and scratched the back of his head. He looked up to his three unexpected guests consist of an uncomfortable wealthy wizard, a puzzled ex-Potion Master, and one bloody pissed off Muggle ex-girlfriend.

Caleb sighed. "I can explain everything."

"You'd better explain everything. I'd watched you died in the hospital. I'd watched the doctors pulled the wires and tubes out of your body," Claire's voice increased. "I'd went to your funeral for God's sake and watched them buried you!"

"Okay-" Caleb raised his hand for her to stop but Claire won't listen.

"And you want to know something else? I'd mourned for your bloody death for a year!" Claire screamed at his face. Her voice was shaken.

" _Okay!_ I get it! It's my fucking fault! I'm a son of a bitch for making you suffered this badly, all right?" Caleb rose from his seat quickly than the eyes could blink. He groaned loudly and paced restlessly around the office.

Meanwhile, Claire had a difficult time to control her emotions. She was thankful that both her house-mates were sitting on each of her sides. Lucius was holding her left hand in tight grip while Severus had one hand placed on her right shoulder when she'd threatened to throw a punch at the heartless son of the bitch.

Caleb stopped pacing. Slowly, he turned to look at them and asked, "How did you get into the Wizarding World? Muggles aren't supposed to be here. They couldn't able to see this place!"

"What do you care even about how I got here, Caleb?" In truth, Severus had put a charm on her so that she may able to use magical items such as the floo and portkeys.

"Of course." Caleb muttered. He walked over his seat and sat down again. This time his facial more calm and he was about to think of few things.

"I'm not even a half-blood wizard; that's just a persona I'd created in order to start a new life in the Wizarding World. I'm actually a _squib."_

"What's a _squib?"_ Claire turned to both men sitting beside her.

" _A squib, is_ a non-magical person who is born to at least one magical parent. In other words, Squibs are, 'wizard-born Muggles' who are rarely exist and often looked upon with a degree of disdain by some witches and wizards, most particularly by the pure-bloods." Severus explained.

Unknown to them, Lucius shifted uncomfortably on his seat. He had been one of the pure-bloods who had disdained the Squibs more so than the Muggles.

Caleb nodded. He glared at Lucius before he reverted his attention back to Claire.

"As per said by Mr. Snape, Squibs are often disdained and looked down on. However, that wasn't my real reason of why I'd faked my death, or lied to you, Claire." He leant forward, with his fingers crossed and looked straight into her eyes.

"I've loved you. I really do cared about you, Claire. But I couldn't forget about my best friend who'd _died_ at Hogwarts unexpectedly without any reasons whatsoever at all! I just couldn't. You wouldn't believe me anyway if I'd told you the truth without a solid proof..."

"I may not be able to understand about the magic and all, Caleb James Robert Thompson, but you could have talked it to me about your best friend's _death!_ How affected you were by it and how you wanted to break up with me, for the greater cause instead having to lie to me and made up stories like you had a bloody Brain Cancer! I would have at the very least, tried to _understand_ you! We could have worked something out if you had just TOLD ME!" Claire argued.

"Whom do you speak of?" Severus quickly interrupted. He was upset of the way this latter had thought about his dear friend that way. But Weverus was even more curious to know who the deceased student was.

"Cedric Diggory."

Two words that made Severus Snape gasped lowly. Claire could hear he sucked in the air when the foreign name left Caleb's mouth. Even Lucius was slightly gawked.

"He was merciless killed in a cold-blood by a Death-Eater named Peter Pettigrew on 24 June in 1995, during the Triwizard Tournament." Caleb clenched his fists.

The day when his parents had delivered the tragic news and informed him that his childhood friend passed, replayed in his mind. His parents had lied to him, saying that Cedric had suffered from a surprised heart attack, in order to spare him the pain that the latter had been merciless killed by one of the Death Eaters.

Caleb had been highly suspicious of what had really caused Cedric to die and had been sceptical about his parent's words. He loved his parents greatly, of course. But they had been trying so darn hard trying to shield him from the the Wizarding World, because he was a Squib, to the point that it made him felt suffocating.

"In 1997 was when I'd found out the truth in Cedric's death. I'd been enraged with my parents for hiding it from me, despite their good intentions. It had taken me months forgive them. Three months were exactly that I needed in order to form a perfect plan－the plan to figure out who had been the bastard who'd killed Cedric." He looked up and met with Claire's disbelief gaze. Tears were in her eyes.

"Do you still remember that Spring, we went out for an outing. It had been a wonderful day, some would said, it had been a perfect day for a picnic even. I'd bought you to the Vicky Park, your favourite place in the whole of London the whole day. We took a stroll, ate lunch and then, I'd told you about my _illness..._ "

"I remember," Her voice was strained and nearly broke in the middle.

Lucius rubbed Claire's back in comfort manner. His hand was still holding her left hand tightly, despite her hand no longer held on to him like she used to. Meanwhile, Severus had both arms crossed on his chest. He kept his gaze on the young lad in intimidating glare.

"I-I never meant to intentionally hurt you, Claire, I swear! I'd just wanted so much to find whoever it was who had killed Cedric. I just HAD to know! He was my childhood friend! I'd thought after I'd told you about my illness and asked for a break up, you would be very upset with me. I'd been surprised and honoured when you'd decided that you wanted to stay with me－till my last breath. You don't know how much it hurt me to see you cried like that back at the Vicky Park.. Begging me to let you stay. It'd almost made me forget about my plan to go to the Wizarding World." Caleb gazed at her softly.

"I'd stayed for a year because of you, faking my illness while you'd taken such a good care of me when I was at the Hospital. That same year, last year, when all hell broke down and the news about the most powerful wizard, Albus Dumbledore, was killed by _him,_ " Caleb glared at Snape who glared daringly back at him. "I knew I could no longer wait not only because of Cedric's death, but also to help out the others to fight off against the Dark Lord. I may be a squib, but I still have magical blood running through my veins. I knew I may not be able to help the Order of the Phoenix or even the Dumbledore's Army much, but I would like to assist as much I could. So I went there after faking my death, and escaped to the Wizarding World, just in time to help out some fellow wizards and witches with everything that I could. I'd also met Agnes, a half-blood, while we were helping out the Order. We got married after the War." He showed her the golden ring on his right ring finger.

"Listen Claire, I felt such a bastard to have to lie to you and to make you suffer like that. In my defence, I'd done so knowing that if I were to die for real during the war, you won't be suffering as much as you did if you knew that I went away were still waiting for my return. And I don't regret marrying Agnes either. Even as Squibs, we carry the responsibilities to preserve our bloodlines and produce heirs so that we don't extinct. Especially now when there were so many casualties during the war."

It happened so fast. One moment, Caleb was standing, looking so guilty for what he'd done and said, and the next, he was on the floor with a broken bleeding nose, and Lucius stood in front of him, panting and staring hard at the younger lad.

Lucius' knuckles smeared with his blood when he had punched the latter in the face. He growled lowly and snarled at the shocked and terrified looking lad, and then he turned.

"He's all yours, Severus." Words that came out of his mouth were filled with venom.

"My pleasure." Snape rose from his seat and walked toward the young lad, while Lucius walked toward a very broken-hearted Muggle and guided her to the door, before shutting it tight.

* * *

 **WHEN** the two of them arrived at the Malfoy Manor, Lucius was caught by Mimi who had opened the door and greeted them, carrying the Missus in his arms.

"Prepare a quick meal for Miss Rollins, and take it to her room." He ordered the House-Elf. He proceeded to the stairs that led to the private chambers and her bedroom.

"Right away, Master Malfoy." Mimi apparated quicker than he could blink.

It took him not more than five minutes to arrive at her chamber. Opening the door using wordless magic, Lucius stepped in and carefully put the still crying young Muggle in his arms with one hand covered her face, down on the bed in the sitting position.

Lucius sat on the bed beside her. Carefully as not to startle her with his next action, he brought her closed to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. She struggled at first, but eventually gave into his embrace, clutched at his broad shoulders, and cried harder into his tailored made robe. As if she'd saved up years of tear to finally broke down like this.

Lucius continued to hold her, all the while, he whispered comforting words and softly patted her hair until her sobs finally subsided. The last and only time he remembered holding someone like this was when Draco had fell from his broom for the first time, when the latter was five years old. He'd cried so hard on that day.

Lucius smiled briefly at the fond memories.

A 'pop' sound awoke him from his reminiscence. Mimi appeared before him carrying a large tray filled with today's lunch and brought them to empty coffee table before excusing herself and made another 'pop'.

"Miss Claire, lunch is served. Perhaps you would feel little bit better after you have something in your stomach?" He asked gently.

Having crying her eyes out and tired herself in the process, Claire mutely nodded and slowly pulled her away from the comfort of his strong arms. Rubbing her puffy red eyes, Claire looked away in embarrassment.

"I want to eat on the bed." Lucius nodded. Using his wand, he elevate the tray and the coffee table brought it closer to them.

Lucius was about to excuse himself and left the Muggle alone for some privacy while she eat, when a warm small hand stopped him from leaving.

"Eat with me. Please."

Lucius stared at her for a moment. His eyes searched for her brown eyes, looking for a doubt. When he found there was none, he sat back down.

 **C** laire stabbed the freshly cut watermelons with her dessert fork before putting it in her mouth.

The lamb casserole they both had shared earlier was very delicious. Had Claire been in any other mood, she would have asked Mimi for another round of that casserole and a recipe.

They both stayed in silence. It was a comfortable silence.

The silence was broken however, when Claire suddenly spoke out. "I'd almost gave myself to him."

"Pardon?"

Claire looked straight at him. "I'd almost done _it_ with him."

"It? What- _Oh._ " It. Trust the younger generations to refer to something special such as the act of love-making to be reduce to something like 'it.' Lucius internally sighed.

He cleared his throat. "But you did not do _it_ , did you?"

Claire firmly shook her head. "He'd wanted to do it, knowing he wouldn't have me forever. But I'd refused. I told him, I'm sorry for what's happening to him, but I won't give myself to him no matter what. When he _died_ , I'd regretted so much for not doing it with him while I had the chance. Come to think of it, I'm glad I didn't."

Lucius nodded. Internally, he was happy to know at least she was a smart young Muggle who wouldn't be easily to give in when pressured, especially when it comes to intimacy.

"If I may be so bold, Miss Claire, I think he doesn't deserved any of the tears you've shed for him. See, the only tears that you should ever shed are tears of joy and," Lucius looked at her straight in the eyes, "Tears during the passionate of love-making. Those are the only tears you should ever shed for a man."

Claire's face flushed when he mentioned the word 'love-making' but she shook her head and put that thought at the back of her head. Right now, she was downright disappointed with an ex-boyfriend whom she'd thought have died a year ago.

Rubbing her full stomach in satisfaction, she let out a small smile to the older Malfoy.

"Thank you. For being here with me." Lucius took her hand and kissed at the back of her palm.

"You're most welcome. Thank you for not kicking me. I'd been half-expecting it when I dragged you from Diagon Alley and apparated us to the Manor."

Claire sighed softly. She then using her available hand, tapped on the empty space beside her.

"You look worn out. Lay down for a bit."

Lucius was baffled by her bold invitation. Surely she's not that naive to invite a man to her bed when she's on an emotion wreck like this?

"Miss Rollins. You do realise it is inappropriate for a young maiden like yourself to invite a gentleman without knowing the consequences that followed afterwards?" He warned her. From here, two things would happen; one, she would invite him anyway to her bed again and his carnal needs about her would finally be fulfilled, or two, she would realized what she'd gotten herself into and asked him to leave, which he would do so, no doubt about that.

Instead of having to chose between those two opinions; Claire however, looked at him strangely with one raised eyebrow and crossed her arms on her chest.

"You know Lucius, at the time like this, what a young woman such as myself want, is a friend to talk to, really."

"But you're the one who'd _boldly_ invited me to lay down on the bed beside you!" Lucius argued.

"Laying down doesn't mean you have to _attack_ me! God." She rolled her eyes. "I invited you to lay down beside me, Lucius, because you looked older than you really are right now. You look exhausted! Here," she threw a pillow at him. "If you don't want to lay down on the bed that's fine too. Feel free to lay down anywhere you see fit. Though I'd doubt you find any space left other than the floor."

Lucius took the pillow and observed her room. Mimi the House-Elf had moved most of her stuff from her Muggle Apartment to this room under his request. The young Muggle had argued that she wouldn't be staying here for a long time, thus, no need to move her stuff in the room. But Severus had argued stating clearly his refusal to apparate back and forth just to get her stuff for her.

In the end, Claire had to obligate the two men's wishes and have her stuff moved into the room.

Claire rested on her bed comfortably after throwing the pillow at the Eldest Malfoy. It didn't take her long to feel another body weight sitting on her left side on the Queen sized bed.

She grew a smirk.

Lucius kept his cool and tried to think of other things to distract him so that he wouldn't frightened the naive young woman beside him.

He decided to talk about his late wife.

As Lucius opened up about his beloved wife; stating that their marriage had been arranged, but gradually they'd grown to accept and loved each other. He told her about Draco, about his days as a snob and proud bigot and racially superior to the people below him, of his days as Death-Eaters and how he'd gradually changed over these past few months.

The two of them continuously to talk and didn't even realised when had sleep came uninvited to them.

* * *

 **B** y the time Lucius stirred and woke up from a peaceful long dream he hadn't had for years, he realised two things had happened. the first thing he realised was that it was already night time. The darkness of the chamber indicated it. The second thing was that he had the young Muggle, sleeping soundly in his arms, protectively. The third was that, in the midst of the darkness, he saw a little beam of light was pointing at him, followed by a low baritone voice that didn't sound too pleasant.

"Get out from the bed. Now."

Lucius slowly untangled his arms from the young woman and got up from the bed. He tried to straighten the wrinkles on his expensive robe, but before he could do so, he was being forcefully dragged by one angry Severus Snape, heading toward the door.


	8. Chapter 8

**Shoutouts to:**

 **MissesE:** *evil laugh* YESS! I've succeed to make you angry with Caleb's reasoning! I was scared of making his character to be honest. I didn't want to make him seems like a total sore LOSER and a douchebag, so I made his intentions noble.. but what am I kidding? he is a douchebag! XD aww, 'm glad you like Lucius being so sweet XD This is for you! Enjoy, Doll!

 **Chapter 8: Lesson 101**

 **"ARE** you out of your bloody mind, Lucius?" Severus barked at his friend after he'd wordlessly cast a Silence Charm in the library and locked the door. "She's young enough to be your daughter!"

Lucius stood on his ground like a proud Malfoy, though he had to bite his tongue to hold back from leashing at the man screaming, 'I'M BLOODY AWARE OF THAT!'

Everyone he met kept telling him that she was young enough to be his daughter. For Merlin's sake, he wasn't blind!

Instead of reacted the way he'd wanted to, Lucius watched in deep silence as the overgrown Bat of Hogwarts pacing back and forth like a hen all the while, tearing his hair out.

When Severus finally looked at him, there was danger hinted in his eyes. All the sudden, Lucius found himself pinned against the wall by the other man who held him by the collar of his robe.

"What have you done to her?" Snape snarled lowly at him. "Have you deflowered her?"

"Of course not, Severus."

"Lucius, is there something you would like to tell me regarding Miss Rollins? Because I know you, old friend. We go way back before she even existed into this world. I know how often you'd treated those young girls back in Hogwarts before you got married, how you'd left them broken with crushed hearts when your engagement to Narcissa was publicly announced. Some of them had even driven to suicide because of it. And how you've treated those ladies you had around your waist twenty-four seven for the last six months after her death! It's not just a job for you, isn't it? You'd enjoyed having them as companions. You'd enjoyed having pleasures with them. So what on Earth are you targeting Miss Rollins all the sudden, one had to ask?"

"Why are you acting this way, Severus? Do you perhaps have deep feelings for Miss Claire? She had told me her feelings toward you were nothing more than platonic love. She'd made it quite clear that she respects you and cares for your , that was before she'd found out her beloved' death was fake."

Severus loosened his grip on his collar and took a step back. Gone all the snarl he had on his face as he maintained a calm façade.

"My heart will forever and always belongs to Lily Evans. There's no mountains high enough nor sea deep enough for me to forget the feelings I have for her. But at the same time, I have grown fond of having Miss around. Hence, I care greatly for her well being. She's the new fresh of air I desperately need when my life was nothing more than just a routine, bitter, broken and in a mess. So yes, I do have deep feelings for Miss Rollins. I respect and adore her, but I will never be able to love her like a man should. However, that doesn't mean I won't hunt down those men who try to hurt her. _Especially_ men like you, Lucius. Men who never take women seriously and played around with them. Miss Rollins however, is an exception. She is a good woman who deserves to be treated with respect and kindness. I will see that she will find someone suitable enough to take care of her. But until then, I will be the one who will watch over her."

"You're not her father, Severus." Lucius said coolly. "What _rights_ do you have on her? Nothing. Besides, Miss Claire is of legal age for marriage should she wishes to be wed. She's a grown woman who is old enough to make decisions for herself, with or without your concerns, _Severus Snape._ "

Snape banged his hands loudly on Lucius' desk.

"She is perhaps the only person who truly gives a damn about _me_ after Albus' passing. I refuse to let you take advantage of her and then ruined her like you've done with the others! So help me, Malfoy, I will-"

"Maybe I do give a damn about her!" Lucius finally snapped. "Maybe I do think of her happiness! Maybe I do want her to be happy - with _ME!"_

Lucius was furious. Who in the bloody hell did he think he was, preaching to him like that? Perhaps it was true what Severus had said about him. However in Lucius' defence, he had been a passionate young fool with a wild heart and at his prime age.

Of course he'd be doing those foolish things Severus had mentioned. He had been forced to marry someone he hardly knew. He had no freedom to do whatever he wished to do. So in his rebellious stage, Lucius had savoured as much freedom as he possibly could before news of his engagement to Narcissa was announced in public.

After the engagement was made, Lucius Malfoy had no longer been a free man. His hands were tied to his deep devoting to raise his family. He and Narcissa had surprisingly got along well. They both had gained each other's respects and grown to love each other, not to mention, deeply devoted to one another as well.

Lucius had truly loved his beloved wife because of her never-ending supports and devotion to him and his selfish cause by following and supporting the Dark Lord, though Narcissa herself didn't support the Dark Lord.

It was her death that made him reverted back to his bachelor days, that was until he met her. Never before, Lucius had encountered such bold, fierce, bashful, and ungraceful young woman like one Claire Rollins.

The deep tension air between the two men earlier had dissolved and replaced with several awkwardness.

Lucius was speechless.

Severus, who had been gasping at him earlier, now reduced to a long silence. He observed the older man very closely with penetrating eyes.

"Are you in love with her, Lucius?"

Those words struck Lucius like lightning bolts. Lucius felt his fingers trembled when his old friend addressed the question.

"I don't know." He replied hesitatingly, in a soft whisper.

"It's a simple question, Lucius. Yes or no?"

"I DON'T KNOW! Merlin's Beard, you're being awfully _pushy_ today, aren't you, Snape?" Lucius snapped again.

Snape looked back at him coolly, before he curtly asked, "For how long?"

Lucius swore and turned his head away from the man. He ran his long fingers on his long silky blonde hair.

"Why are you asking me these questions? Why does it matters to you anyway, Severus?" Lucius gritted his teeth at the last word. Honestly, he felt like when he was sixteen again －after being caught by his own Father red-handed the first time he'd actually brought a young lovely brunette, a fellow Slytherin, to the manor for a little shag in his Father's office.

Before Snape could reply to the questions, a couple of hard knocks on the door interrupted them. Both men blinked their eyes for a couple of times before they eventually snapped out of it when the knocking grew to harder and impatient knocks.

Severus used wordless magic to unlock the door and Lucius walked toward it and opened the door - to see a bored and slightly amused Claire waiting outside of the door. Already dressed in her long sleeves night pyjamas, and a long robe, she raised an eyebrow at the two of them.

"So this is where you two have been hiding. We've been searching all over for you."

"We?" Lucius asked absent-mindedly. He was having a difficult time to compose himself in front of her, after his confession earlier.

"Mimi, include. I woke up a while ago, and was on my way to the dining room when I saw the poor thing was beating herself up for not knowing where her Master and Mister Snape had gone off to! Pitied the poor thing, I volunteered to find you two while she got the table ready for dinner. And _voila!_ "

Snape cleared his throat. "Very well then. We shouldn't kept the food waiting. Lucius, we will discuss the matter further some other time."

Lucius mutely nodded.

" **H** OW do you feel now, Miss Rollins?" Severus asked while cutting his rack of lamb.

"Frankly, I feel very good and refreshing for some unknown reason. I guess the event of what'd happened earlier today finally took a troll on me. I could hardly remember what'd happened before I dozed off. The last thing I do remember was talking to Lucius about dear Narcissa and that's it. Come to think of it, Lucius," she turned to look at him. "What time did you left my room?"

Lucius stared back at her in mildly shocked. He could felt Severus' penetrating gaze on him, on his right.

"Right after you'd dozed off. I didn't want to invade your personal space after all." He lied.

"Oh." Claire shrugged. "Anyway, I had a good sleep. I doubt I could get any sleep any time soon, so why don't you let me run through the files about DEATH so that I may be able to know my way around when I start my work as your P.A?"

"Of course." Lucius nodded. "We shall head back to the library after this. There are few things I need to go through with Severus and you can stay and learned how to manage the files."

"Duly noted."

" **S** o, let me get this stuff straight; highlight only the names, addresses and the numbers written on the left corner over here, right?" Claire pointed out the paper in her hand at the man sitting beside her.

"Correct, Miss Rollins." Snape nodded, before returning to his work. He had a reading glasses on as he marked some paper works and then wrote it down rough notes on the parchment using a black inked quill. Lucius had left them for a short while, stating he needed to take a bath.

The two unlikely pair enjoyed doing their works in a comfortable silence. Occasionally, Claire would asked Severus questions about her work and whatnot. She was halfway through her paperworks when Claire suddenly let out a sharp gasp as something had hit on her lower abdomen. It caused slight stirred from the man sitting beside her.

"Miss Rollins?" Severus put down his quill. "Are you all right?"

Claire slowly nodded. She took a deep breath and was about to resume with her paperworks when something sharp hit her again, this time, Claire didn't bother to answer him. She stood up and desperately flee from the room, leaving Severus Snape into deep confusion.

Severus sat on his seat with his work was left untouched ever since the young Muggle had left the library ten minutes ago. Lucius had come in shortly after she had left. When he had asked him, 'Where had Miss Claire gone off to?'

Severus only replied was, 'She needed to get something from her room, perhaps.' Before he continued to ponder about the Muggle's whereabouts and her strange behaviour earlier himself.

Lucius took Severus' short answer as a mean to not speaking to him at the moment. He took his works to his desk and began working on it.

After twenty minutes of empty silence between them, Severus finally had enough.

"Where is that little-" His little rants were unfortunately interrupted by a loud 'Pop' in the air, followed by Mimi's frantic appearance.

"Is something the matter?" Lucius asked, putting down his quill.

"Missus asked Mimi to relay a message to both Master Malfoy and Mister Snape. Missus said Missus suddenly does not feels well and asked that Missus would be retreated from tonight's work."

"Well then, whatever happened to her? Tell us!"

"Why didn't she told me sooner?" Both men shouted at the same time, causing Mimi to wince before flapping her hands, stating she had more to tell them.

"Missus also requested for both Master and Mister Snape to find Missus a female companion － a healer － to be brought to Missus' room. Missus said it's a must! Missus is in great pain. Mimi doesn't like to see Missus in pain..."

"That does it!" Lucius marched toward the door, heading to the young woman's chamber, with Severus followed behind him, despite his servant's protest, saying something like 'Missus has locked herself in the bathroom!' or 'Missus had gone mad!'

That made the two men quickened their paces. Soon, they arrived at Claire' room, more specifically, at the front of her bathroom door. They heard a painful cried coming from the inside.

Lucius turned the knob, but it was unsuccessful. He then knocked on the door.

"Miss Rollins, what in Merlin's name are you doing in there? Come out this instant!"

Then, it happened. Like the whole room was shaking by the echoed of a loud shout that came from the other side of the door.

"DON'T YOU ORDER _ME_ AROUND, MALFOY! ESPECIALLY AT THIS MOMENT OF TIME!"

Even Severus had to flinch at her sharp-at-the-edge toned voice.

Before Lucius could say a word, Claire shouted again, "Where's the female healer I'd requested? Is that too much to ask from you old bats to find one around here?! I NEED SOMEONE, SPECIFICALLY A FEMALE, TO HELP ME DEALING WITH THIS－!"

When Claire suddenly stopped shouting like a mad banshee, the two grown men heard the most disturbing loud noise came from the other side of the door.

Lucius looked like the world was going to end. He desperately wanted to break down the door and to see what exactly was going on with the young woman. At the same time, for whatever reason that was unknown to him, he refused to find out what awaited him on the other side. The sharp tone of Claire's voice sent unwanted shivers down his spine for whatever reasons unknown to him.

Lucius turned to the House-Elf, who looked more frantically than he'd ever seen her. "Why don't you go in and help her then? You are a female, are you not?"

Mimi shook her head sadly. "Mimi tried to do that before, but Missus had kicked Mimi out. Missus said Missus needs a human female to help her."

"I'll find a Healer." Severus suddenly spoke. "She's vomiting and she won't let us in. I might have an idea of what's going on. If I'm right, she will be staying that way for a little while. In the meantime, keep her busy, Lucius."

Severus apparated faster than Lucius could said 'wait'. Leaving the Malfoy Patriarch with a very irritating Muggle.

Lucius took a deep breath before he knocked on the door twice. "Miss Rollins?"

"GO _AWAY_ , MALFOY!"

"Miss Rollins－ _Claire._ I realised you are battling a great pain at the moment. Just to inform you, Severus went off to find a healer that you've specifically requested."

"GOOD! AT LEAST SOMEONE KNOWS HOW TO DO HIS JOB RIGHT. NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Before Lucius could retort back, he heard a buzzing sound, followed by someone apparating back into the room.

"Severus, that was qui...ck." Grey eyes scanned at not one, but four people that the dark haired man had bought back with him. His eyes especially landed to a young man whom he'd last seen was during his trials and the beginning of Project DEATH. He had been one of the few who involved with the project and had been the one who approved of the mission.

" _Potter."_

"Malfoy." Harry Potter nodded slightly, before letting his eyes dwell at the bathroom door where the disturbing noise was coming from. Beside him, his fiancée and and long-time best friend rushed toward the door before gently knocking it.

"Miss Rollins? My name is Ginny Weasley. I have with me someone who is very adept in Healing Magic, Hermione Granger. May we please come in?"

There was a silence from the other side. Before a weak strained voice replied, "Could you let yourselves in?"

Ginny nodded. Looking at her best friend by her side, they cast a spell to unlock the door, and quickly entered. The door was back closed before the men could take a peek of what was going on inside.

The men stood in awkward deep silence. Lucius kept his eyes from the Boy-Who-Lived to the man who bought him over to his manor.

"Severus, do you mind explaining to me why the Golden Trio plus the young Weasley are here in _my_ manor?"

"Well Lucius, Hermione Granger was the only person I could think of asking for help due to their close of age. Fortunately, Miss Ganger was a staying over at the Burows and the rest had decided to follow to ensure that it wasn't some sort of a trick or a kidnapping plan, as prior stated by Mr. Weasley earlier." Severus shot an eyebrow at the fuming expression of Ronald Weasley.

"I see. Very well. While the ladies are kept busy, why don't we refresh ourselves in the dining room for a cup of hot tea? Merlin knows I desperately need one."

 **THE** awkward silence that filled in the air between the four men in the Malfoy's Dining room could be cut easily by a knife, if there was such thing to happen anyway. As usual, Lucius seated at the Head table. To his right, was Severus and to his left was Harry Potter. Beside him was the Weasley boy.

Lucius was stirring his cup of tea while trying not to mind the silent questioning look Potter was giving him. He tried to ignore it, but it seemed to be impossible. Clearing his throat, Lucius put down his teaspoon and looked at the young man.

"Is there something you would like-"

"Who is the young woman in the bathroom and what have _you_ done to her?"

"Oh for Merlin's sake, have you not informed them what happened, Severus?"

"I did not have the privilege nor the time to properly explain to them of what happened thus far, Lucius. My first intention had been to bring only Miss Granger. But it seems these people caught up while we were apparating."

"You kidnapped my _fiancée_ right before my bloody own eyes!"

"Apologies, Mr. Weasley." Severus poured a bottle of Firewhiskey into his cup. He swallowed the liquor before he spoke.

"In regards to Mr. Potter's question, there's an obvious explanation. It started six months ago..." In twenty minutes, Severus was able to fill in what happened to their lives after the War had ended that led them to this event.

"I'm very sorry for your loss." Harry said quietly. He'd heard of the news of Narcissa's death course from the Minister,Kingsley Shacklebolt when they were counting the casualties from the War. After Lucius was pardoned from his trial and given a mission for Project DEATH, he hadn't heard of what had becoming of the man since then until now.

"Thank you." Lucius took his time to thank the boy who ruined and saved his family's life.

Soon after their little talk, soft steady footsteps came down from the staircase and joined them at the dining room. Both Severus and Lucius stood up at the same time. Their concerns were focused back on their Muggle friend.

"How Miss Rollins' doing?" Severus asked before Lucius could open his mouth.

Hermione Granger half-shrugged. "She's better than before. But she still needs plenty of rest." She handed Severus a piece of note. "I've written down all the important ingredients that needed for the medical potion, just as you'd instructed, Professor. You are free to add anything later."

Severus nodded and read the written ingredients. "Impressive as always, Miss Granger. I'm guessing you've already taken care of the _other_ things for Miss Rollins?"

Ginny snorted before covering her mouth when Hermione elbowed her on the gut. "Yes. The other things have been taken care of." She then rolled her eyes at Ron's gawking face. "Stop with the gawking, Ron. You have a little sister. You of all the men should know how it is when a woman is experiencing her menstrual - especially when it comes to severe cramps."

"Please, Hermione. I don't need you to tell me about _that!_ " Hermione rolled her eyes again and the two ladies proceeded to take a seat next to their significant ones.

"Miss Rollins did say this is the worse she had in years. She also said it probably due to the stress she's coping at the moment, whatever it is. I told her to take it easy for a while and rest whenever she can."

"So the pains Miss Claire is experiencing was due to menstrual cramps. Thank Merlin it's nothing too serious I hope? What of the vomiting that we heard? Narcissa never had that problem before so I have little knowledge of how to deal with such matters."

The vomiting is caused by the _Dysmenorrhe_ _._ It is a medical term that means "difficult or painful periods. There are two types of dysmenorrhea, the primary, which is the most common kind －cramping pain in the lower abdomen can start from 1–2 days before your period begins and can last 2–4 days. And then, there's the secondary dysmenorrhea, when cramps are a result of a medical problem such as _En_ _dometriosis._ Now, Endometriosis is a condition that occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus is found outside its normal location. This usually causes pain before, and, or during a young woman's menstrual period."

By the time Hermione finished explaining the details to them, Ron had buried his face on the table with hands on his ears. His face was bright red like the colour of his hair. Harry gazed awkwardly at different directions, while Severus and Lucius simply nodded, finally they were able to understand what were the causes that made the usually calm and collective Miss Claire suddenly changed to an angry banshee earlier.

"There's more to it actually-" Ginny was cut by her brother.

"I think we're all done here!" Ronald Weasley abruptly stood up. He looked at his former professor and his family's nemesis. "Should Miss Rollins needs any more assistance, I hope this time you bring more suitable Healer to aid her. Hermione may be very adept with Healing Magic, but she by all means is not a Healer. Either bring a qualified Healer or take her to St. Mungo!"

"Ronald!" Hermoine and Ginny scolded him synchronously.

Harry too got up and stood from his chair.

"I hope Miss Rollins get well soon."

With a quick bow, he pulled his hot-tempered friend away from the two men and apparent back home. Ginny and Hermione also stood. The Weasley girl looked from Lucius to her ex professor before she raised an eyebrow with an amusing smirk.

"So you and her, huh?"

Severus' left eye twitched. Of course. If there was anyone who would want to mock at his fake relationship with Claire Rollins, it had to be the dunderheads he'd once taught in Hogwarts.

"Not that it's any of your concerns, Miss Weasley but do you really believe anything that's written by that cow Rita Skeeter? Shame on you."

Ginny's smirk quickly disappeared by his remarks. However unlike her brother, she knew how to control her emotion better. Wordlessly, she walked away with dignity and apparent home.

Hermione Granger was the last to leave. Poor hermione, she'd thought she could finally be back home at the Burows from all the stress of having to repeat her Seventh Year in Hogwarts. Ron and Harry along with Neville Longbottom, had joined the Aurors at the invitation of Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt, in order to track down Death Eaters who escaped.

Imagine her great shock when, she and the rest of the Weasleys were having a nice family gathering to find the old Dungeon Bat of Hogwarts suddenly appeared in the middle of the living room, and without any warning, he put a silence charm and a shield around around him so that the others won't interfere and attack him, before he grabbed her arms while demanded her full attention to what he wanted to tell her about what briefly happened in Malfoy's Mansion.

Once Snape had explained to her the important things, Hermione went to the room she shared with Ginny, grabbed a few things and stuffed them into a medium sized bag including, Severus had noticed, a pack of 'Overnight pads' written clearly at the front, before they apparate to the Malfoy's Mansion.

Sighed, Hermione looked at the older men who also stood up from their seats.

"I've left my mobile phone number to Miss Rollins, just in case she needs something or someone to talk to. I imagine being a Muggle, alone in the Wizarding World must have frightened her to a certain point. Anyway, Professor. It's nice to see you again. You too, Mr. Malfoy. Good night."

And then she apparate home.


	9. Chapter 9

**Shoutouts to:**

notwritten: Thank you so much for reviewing! this is for you. enjoy :D Cheers!

MissesE: Yes, we finally know Severus' feelings. :) I'm glad you like the previous chapter lol XD I hope you enjoy this one as well. cheers!

 **A/N: Heyya readers! there's something I would like to stress out about this chapter before you read it. so PLEASE READ. This event in this chapter has already happened. however, since i am not so good grammatically, so some of you might get confused with the many 'had' I'd put in the story. Please forgive my weakness, I am trying so hard to deal with it. And also, just to inform yo uthis chapter is PG13. Nothing too graphical but it might be disturbing for some of you... Read at your own risk.**

 **Enjoy! :)**

 **Chapter 9: Please**

 **T** HE red-bricked window, a gateway to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, opened as a black haired man rushed into the door. The heavy outer layers of his robe trailing passed the doorway as he rushed to the Reception area.

"Lucius Malfoy. Which room floor is he?" Baritone voice hissed impatiently at the Welcome Witch.

"Mr. Malfoy is in Third Floor, Mr. Snape." The Welcome Witch answered.

"I understood a young Muggle was brought in along with him. Where is she now?"

The Welcome Witch checked her note board before she nodded. "Ah yes. Miss Claire Rollins. She should be at the Fifth Floor, Mister Snape."

Severus left the Receptionist with a quick 'thank you' and in hurry.

 **C** laire Rollins stood in front of a see-through glass door. There was a big sign of 'No Visitors Allowed' at the door. She looked at the patient laying on the bed - Lucius Malfoy. He was dressed in the hospital gown. He was sleeping peacefully. He had a small bruise on his face and cut on his lips. For the first time since she met with the man, Claire was not seeing him in anything in tailored suits, but a simple 'cheap' hospital robe.

It broke her heart to see him looking like this despite what had almost happened between them few hours ago.

Claire herself wasn't looking her best either.

Her skin was paled and white as the snow. Her hair was in great mess. She had few bruises on her face; her right cheek were red from being slapped earlier. A cut at her bottom lips, her left wrist was bandaged and there were an ugly black-blue bruises on her right knuckles－despite already being treated by a Healer earlier.

The night gown she wore had been torn apart, especially on the shoulders, where a red spot mark was visible on her left neck. It was hidden by the big robe a kind Witch that had offered to her before they apparate her to the Hospital.

 _How could this have happened?_

Her whole body started to tremble. Shivering, Claire hugged herself and shut her eyes tightly as she slowly got down on her knees. Memories of what had happened to her hours ago replayed in her mind like a broken recorder.

She was about to let out a scream, but held back when a huge shadow was standing in front of her.

"Claire." Severus panted heavily. Having to apparate all the way from the Minister's office to come here took a great troll on him.

Claire's eyes widened as got up to her feet again, very slowly. Her watery eyes looked at the older man before she threw herself desperately into his arms.

Severus was greatly shocked by her reaction, he had to take a step backward from the force. Claire held onto him so tightly and refused to let go. She screamed loudly into his shoulders, and cried her eyes out while Severus held her strongly in his arms and whispered comfort words to her.

His black eyes stared at the patient's door－at Lucius.

 _How could this happened?  
_

* * *

 **T** WO peaceful days had passed by after Claire's mad outburst due to her unusual menstrual cycle, and the unexpected meeting with Golden Trio, plus one Miss Weasley who had come to the Malfoy's manor for an emergency visit.

When Monday had finally come in the following week, Claire, having fully recovered, had started her first day as Lucius Malfoy's Personal Assistant-At-Home, where she handled all the documents, files and anything that related to Project DEATH.

Claire didn't mind doing all of the paperworks, of course. After all, how could she refused a big, fat generous amount of cheque worth of £300,000 weekly?

Working with Lucius had given Claire a new sense of experience. While the older Malfoy had been acting like the perfect and classic Gentleman toward her, it amazed Claire that his persona changed completely while he was in the 'Mode'.

Lucius Malfoy had been a strict, perfectionist and non-nonsense Boss. He would not accept any mistakes or errors from no one. He was the type of Boss everyone feared. The one they hated and loved at the same time.

Claire was no exception. On her first day of working as his P.A on Monday, she had him yelled at her on the phone left, right, front and back at the errors that she'd made, even the slightest mistakes.

Over time though, Claire had managed to get used of the work and the procedures. The yelling gotten lessened and she had even received encouragement words and praises from the Malfoy's Patriarch.

While Claire had not been pleased at the crude words Lucius had used at her whenever he pointed out her mistakes, she knew that if she could handle him as her Boss and being his PA, it would be a good resume for her should she decided to pursuit another job soon. Imagine being recommended by the great Lucius Malfoy to any Executive Directors of her own choice! She would be set for life without the needs to feel worry about anything else, especially paying her rent ever again!

Time passed by and before Claire knew it, next Friday had arrived shortly after she'd became his PA.

On that Friday morning, Claire had been informed by Lucius that today was the day he would be going on a mission for the Project DEATH. He'd told her he would be gone for the night gathering _informations_ on the Death Eaters whereabouts based on the lead and informations she had gathered for him.

Lucius had also informed her to not wait up for him and reminded her he would be out of contact for the rest of the day.

"Don't worry, Lucius! Just because Severus isn't here with me that doesn't mean I'm helpless and defenceless!" Claire had giggled and shaken her head at his worries of leaving her alone in the manor. "I'm no damsel in distress. I can take care of myself just fine."

"I have no doubt about that, my dear. However, I must _stress_ out that you do not possess a wand nor do you know how to cast any spells. This manor is your only protection against anything that's magical. Do not go out of the manor for any reasons whatsoever. Should something bad were to happen, contact Severus immediately. He will be joining me for our little venture, but he will be a lot closer to you compare to where I will be heading. If the worse should happened, and Severus couldn't be reached, then by all means, call Miss Granger. She'd left you her phone number, didn't she?"

Claire had nodded.

Lucius had put down the spoon he was holding. He'd reached out and grasped her hand, much to Claire's surprise.

"I will never forgive myself if something bad happens to you while you are in my care." He said in a soft, intimate tone and never left his gaze on her.

Claire had to look away. She'd been doing that lately－ gazing away from him and flush flooding on her face.

Lucius smirked proudly at his small achievement, before slowly he'd pulled away his hand from hers. Knowing that at the very least, he had that kind of effect on her made him very happy.

Looking at how quiet and bashfully she'd suddenly become, Lucius suddenly had an urge to do nothing more but to kiss her there and then. He'd longed to feel her lips on his but decided to wait.

One good thing that came out from his confession to Severus Snape about the Muggle woman was that Lucius no longer felt like he should be ashamed of his feelings toward her.

Lucius knew what he felt toward Claire Rollins was more than just infuriation. He was obviously attracted to her. _Very_ attracted to her. But he held back. He'd gotten this far to finally admitted to himself of his feelings for her.

There was no way he would jeopardize their budding relationship by doing something regretful that would chase her away.

No. Lucius would be a gentleman about it. He would court her properly. Lucius would take his time and made it as enjoyable as possible for the two of them.

 **S** ome time later after in the evening, Claire had finished all the works that needed to be done on that day. She had an early dinner and gotten herself washed up and dressed into a night gown with a matching robe.

She'd decided to wear a sleeveless long cotton plain nightgown seeing as she would be all alone in the Manor with Mimi. There was no way in seven hells would she wear such gown in the presence of those two men!

Shrugging, Claire had been on her way to the silence hallway that lead to the Malfoy's library. She had grown a habit of reading old texts and books in the library while staying at the Manor.

Lucius had been the one who had firstly invited her to join him for a reading in the library after she'd been well enough to move from being bedridden for a day.

As her soft footsteps had brought her to the front door of the library, Claire suddenly halted. She'd listened intensively to the sound of something moving faintly inside the library.

Who could that possibly be? Lucius had made it very clear to her that no one beside herself and Mimi were the only ones in the manor. The manor itself had been heavily protected by magic so that it was nearly impossible for an outsider to enter...

Very slowly, Claire had taken a few steps back without making any noise. She'd wanted to run. Oh hell, she'd wanted to sprint to her room and locked the door shut before summoning Mimi!

 _Creeak._

Her had left foot stepped on the cranky polished wooden floors. Widened eyes, Claire looked up. To her horror, she could no longer heard the faintly sound. Decided not to waste her time to find out what it was, Claire broke into a dash.

She raced across the hallway, passed the narrowed corridors, and had nearly reached to her destination when she felt something grabbed her from behind. A strong arm wrapped snug around her waist while a hand held tightly on her mouth. Before Claire could began to think what was happening, she felt herself being pushed into a secret door on the wall to her left.

Claire had to struggle in order to break free. She'd kicked and elbowed the kidnapper on the stomach and worn out from their strong arms. Once freed, Claire immediately drank into her surroundings－it was a small room filled with aromatic candles-lit. What caught her obvious attention was the King's bed at the centre of the room.

Claire's eyes couldn't grow even bigger the moment she'd spotted the bed. Panic rose within her. When the sound of heavy booths approached her, Claire had turned around swiftly in a defence posture.

She had tried so hard to control her heavy breathing and tried to maintain a strong façade to face whoever the hell the bastard who kidnapped her... Imagine how shocked she had been when the kidnapper turned out to be none other than Lucius Malfoy himself!

"Lucius?" Claire asked hesitatingly. "W-What are you doing in here?"

Lucius didn't move nor did he'd said anything back at her. He'd simply just stared at her. He looked nothing like the man she'd seen earlier; his face was paled and sickly. But there had been something unusual and very uneasy in his stare.

He looked at her as if he'd wanted to devour her.

Claire had backed herself against the wall on the opposite side while keeping her eyes at him. Internally, she prayed hard she'd fallen asleep and this was just a bad dream.

A very bad dream.

* * *

 **SEVERUS** Snape had arrived at the corridors of the Minister for Magic's office in haste. The heavy layers of his robe swung from left to right as he'd practically ran his way to the Level 2 - Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the Auror Headquarters, where he had expected to meet with Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt and the members of Project DEATH.

Something urgent had come up while he had been on a mission. One, Severus had gotten a message from his trusted source that _someone_ had planned a move against not only them, but also the rest of the A.D members and the Orders of the Phoenix. Who it was, Severus hadn't got the time to find out when he'd received another important message stated that his partner in crime, Lucius Malfoy had gone missing.

Arriving at the room, Severus quickly came face to face with the Golden Trio seated at the round table and Kingsley Shacklebolt himself at the head table.

"Severus Snape, welcome. Please, take a seat."

Snape sat down immediately, taking a long deep breath from running too much at his ripe age. While Severus had been busy catching his breath, it was Harry Potter whose voice echoed at the otherwise empty room.

"We've informed the others about the news. Most of the D.A and the Orders have already gone for a hiding. Only the three of us are left."

"Except for Ginny." Said Ron, quickly, "And George."

Severus rolled his eyes and groaned loudly. "Why didn't your siblings followed the rest of your family and went out for a hiding, Mr. Weasley?"

"Because they wanted to help, _."_ Ron retorted soundly.

Hermione who had seated beside him, quickly mentioned, "They'd promised to keep low-profiles, Sir. Moreover, the more people the merry, right? We need all the helps as we can to catch that someone after all. Isn't it?"

Snape had let out a deep sighed and scratched his itchy scalp. "Fine! Do what you will. But if I have to save any one of you, then so help me, Merlin, I will not hesitate to _hex_ you!"

"Now that we're all settled down, we should be focusing on what's most importance." A deep, reassuring voice belonged to Kingsley Shacklebolt broke the tension. " , I believe you have another urgent news to tell us about?"

Snape had looked tensely at each one of them.

Clearing his throat, he'd said, "Lucius Malfoy has gone missing. He was last seen with his 'client' gathering information about the leftover Death-Eaters. Also," Severus took out a test tube from his pocket. "I've found this at the crime scene, where Lucius was last seen."

He had then opened the cork of the distinctive Mother-of-pearl sheen and Spiralling steam came out from test tube, and let they all had inhaled the most seductive scent they have ever smelt.

" _Amortentia_ _."_ Hermione Granger deeply exhaled.

"Correct, Miss Granger. Amortentia was used on Lucius Malfoy. The question now is to whom?"

Ron had snorted. "Who could possibly be an interest for an old meanie like Malfoy except maybe his late wife?"

" _Honestly..._ Ron, focus!" Hermione had scolded him.

He always acted immature especially when Snape was around. The grudge that he had against their ex-potion Master was clearly visible even though the rest of the Orders have already forgiven him.

Harry proceeded and cleared his throat. "I'm confused. Why would anyone wanted to used Amortentia on Malfoy in the first place? Was it a personal grudge?"

"Don't look at me, Potter. It's not like I keep a track what he does with his personal life." Not that Severus would ever admitted that he _did_ keep on track on his friend's private life, but only when Miss Rollins was concerned.

Honestly. Even Severus felt he was like an overprotective father. Shaking his thoughts from the said Muggle when something began to click in his head.

 _Amortentia_ _－_ _the most powerful_ _Love Potion_ _in existence. It causes a powerful infatuation or obses_ _sion from the drinker._ _C_ _onsidered to be a powerful and highly dangerous potion._

 _Amortentia doesn't create actual love; it's impossible to manufacture or imitate love. The person under the effect of the potion will only hold a obsession for the person who administered it._

Of course, that was the General Knowledge of Amortentia. What most people were not aware of and did not know, was Amortentia was highly dangerous not only because of the powerful infatuation, but it could also be used to manipulated the drinker's mind as long as the drinker have feelings for the others, beside the one who had administered the potion.

The administer controlled the drinker by whispering the deep thought into their mind in order for them to act on their feelings. Once the spell was broken, the drinker had absolutely no recall whatsoever of what he was doing to the victim.

Back in his Death Eaters days, the Dark Lord often used this method to the hesitated Death Eaters who had initially refused to do those horrible and inhumane acts on the women they'd captured.

Shaking his mind from his deep thoughts, Severus had then proceeded to tell them the extra information about Amortentia, hoping together, they could figured something out.

* * *

 **Claire** had been standing still at her same spot for what seemed to be for hours when it had just been merely ten minutes. She had never left her eyes off him. There was definitely something 'un-Lucius' glint in his eyes that she couldn't figure out what.

Gathering her courage, Claire spoke up with a slightly trembled voice. "What are you doing here, Lucius? Didn't you say you'd be out for the night? What happened to the mission?"

A smirk had graced upon Lucius' handsomely face. He'd moved forward toward her very slowly.

"I've done my mission, _my dear."_

Claire had instinctively took a few steps back until her back kissed the wall. Lucius won't stopped staring, and his tone－very mild, quiet. It had felt like a caressing tongue in her ears.

Claire had been obviously shaken inside and out. Gripping her fists to control her fears of him. Bravely she spoke, "Oh. You've must be tired from your mission. Get some good rest. Goodnight then."

Claire had given him an awkward smile before she passed beside him to get to the entrance door when she'd felt a strong grip on her left wrist.

"Now where do you think _you're_ going, pet?"

"Sleep, on my own bed, _obviously._ Let go of me."

Lucius chuckled deeply. "Now why would I do something like _that?_ "

There it was. The thing that'd made her feared him the moment she looked at him. It was an obvious sign; the _lust_ glinted in his dark grey eyes.

Lucius made his moves.

Before Claire could fully grasped the situation on hands, she had then found herself being pinned against the wall, trapped by both his arms on the each sides of her head.

Claire gasped sharply. Big frightened brown eyes met darkened grey eyes. Their faces were merely a few inches apart.

Her instinct had told her to shove him away and broke into sprint.

 _This wasn't the same Lucius she knew,_ her mind had argued. _What are you waiting for? Shove him!_

Her hands had automatically moved and shoved the Elder Malfoy away before she broke into a sprint out of the room.

* * *

" **M** IMI!"

Not even caring if the whole manor heard her yelling like a madwoman as Claire had run blindly outside of the manor in the cold dark night, into the garden.

Where was the House-Elf when she needed her the most?!

Claire had been beyond scared at the moment. She had found a place to hide behind the many bush of roses in the spiral maze like garden, and prayed hard that Lucius won't find her there...

"There you are, _Pet._ "

Before Claire knew what happened, she had gotten herself pinned on the ground, faced up, with Lucius on top of her.

"Get off me! SOMEONE HELP! MIMI!" she had struggled to break free. Her left hand was pushing his face away and her left hand kept on hitting whichever part of him within her grip.

Lucius had chuckled darkly at her. He brought her left hand up above her head, and he had leaned closer to her ear.

"There's no one in the manor, love. I've emptied the manor for the two of us. So that you may scream as much as your heart desired when you scream out _my_ name..."

Claire had struggled even harder. She had pushed his face away as he leant even closer to her face.

"Lucius, please stop! You're scaring me! You really _really_ scaring me! This is not who you really are! _Stop! Please!"_ Claire begged him desperately.

Tears were already running down her eyes.

Lucius had caught her other hand and pinned it above her head. He stared right into her soul.

"What have you _done_ to me? I feel like I have to have you. No, I _must_ have you. I need you, Claire. Otherwise I feel like I'm losing my very mind. So please, let me have you tonight..." He had leaned down and softly kissed and nibbled her neck.

Claire gasped sharply. Her face was bright red. "Lucius, please! Please, please stop! I'm begging you, _please!_ "

She tried to move her hands but he had them locked on the ground.

"Please, Lucius..." She begged him again.

Abruptly, Lucius lifted his head and stared at her angrily. "Why? Why do you keep on resisting me when all I'd wanted is you?!"

"Lucius I'm not-"

"Don't tell me..." He'd snarled at her. "Are you in love with Severus Snape? Is that why you always be with him? Are you in love with him?!"

Claire stopped sobbing. He'd been like a lovestruck a while ago and now he was pissed? Maybe, just maybe she could get away from him if she continuously denied and provokes him... It's a risk, a big and possibly dangerous to take, but she'll do it anyway if it means she could escape from him!

"Yes..." She'd looked straight into his eyes. "Yes, I-I'm in love with Severus...even when I knew his heart belonged to someone else, I couldn't help to feel-"

 _PAK!_

Claire had felt sharp pain hit on her right cheek. She shut her eyes tightly, trying not to think of the pain or shown any weaknesses in front of him.

"You do not and will never belong with him!"

When Claire looked up at him, Lucius immediately crushed his lips into hers.

Claire had struggled. She'd refused to open her mouth even when he bit on her lower lips, and drew a bit of blood. She tried to use her legs and kicked him, but he had his own legs wrapped around her thighs.

Tears had rolled down her cheeks like falling waterfalls through her long eyelashes as she'd kept her eyes shut tight. Claire kept on praying, hoping for a miracle to happen. That he stopped what he was doing to her.

When she felt his hand moved to her thigh and his rough calloused fingers reached to her pants, Claire snapped her eyes opened.

He pulled his lips away, few inches away from her to catch his own breath.

"Please, Lucius... Don't do it. Please.." she begged him for the last time.

For a moment, she had seen a unfamiliar glint in his lust-filled eyes; a sense of guilt before it disappeared, and Lucius leaned in forward once again-

" _STUPEFY!"_

A spell was cast on Lucius, caused him to be stunned and get off away from Claire.

From her view, Claire had seen two people stood behind them, both had been holding their wands. One of them, she had remembered seeing before and the other one was a complete stranger to her.

Ginny Weasley had approached Claire with steady steps before she'd bended down on her knees. "Merlin's Beard! Are you all right, Miss Rollins?" She then helped supporting Claire on her feet.

Claire didn't even nodded immediately she wrapped her arms around Ginny's neck and had refused to let go. Her face was pale as a white sheet. Her whole body had trembled with fear and relief.

"Gin, is she all right?" Called one George Weasley. He had looked down at the stunned and unconscious Malfoy on the ground before looking back at his only sister.

"Wow. That was one mean stupefy, Ginny. He's lucky I'd held back or else who knows what could have happened."

"The bastard deserves each and every amount of it!" Ginny spat, still holding onto the older woman. "You seen it yourself what he'd done to her, George!"

George had nodded gravely. "In any case, let's get these two to St. Mungo. I know you wanted nothing more than to stay here and hex him to hell and back, Ginny, but remember what we are here for. Plus, I think your friend there might need to get herself check in as well."

Ginny, still eyeing the older Malfoy with such hatred in her eyes but nevertheless, had nodded her head. Gently, she'd released Claire from her tight embrace and apparate her from the manor. Her brother had done the same with Malfoy, except he'd used levitate spell instead to carry him through apparate.

* * *

 **A** FTER Claire had told Severus Snape what'd happened to her, she'd fallen asleep with her head on his shoulders, while he held her in one arm. They were both sitting on a long bench outside of Lucius' patient room.

Severus sighed deeply. Regrets filled in his mind. Why didn't he thought of it sooner? The obvious victim would of course, be Miss Rollins! Lucius had confessed to him before that he felt attraction toward her!

Severus felt like a terrible fool for not be able to protect her like he should have.

Many questions ran through his mind. Why would that someone targeted Lucius with the Amortentia of all the people? Was it a personal grudge? Or his company's rivals targeted him to bring his business down?

Before Severus could came out with the answer himself, the quick heavy steps approached them. He looked up and saw one very miserable, worn out looking young man with messy hair and dark obvious bags under his eyes.

"Draco."


	10. Chapter 10

**Shoutouts to:**

notwritten: Yeah.. poor Claire :"( but it's okay! She'll get through this! *girlpowerrr* This is for you enjoy! :) Cheers!

MissesE : Yea poor Claire ;( What fate lies her I wonder? Lol I hope you enjoy this chapter! Sorry if it's short. Thanks for the review ;)

 **Chapter 10: Consequences**

" **D** RACO."

Severus looked a bit shocked by the appearance of the paled skin, and dark shadows under his eyes belonged to a young Malfoy before him. He had unconsciously jerked, hence, caused the young Muggle sleeping soundly beside him to wake up.

Claire rubbed her sleepy eyes and blinked a few times. She looked up and met with Draco's intense grey eyes.

"Draco." Claire said. Slowly she sat up, stretched her arms and legs and straightened her back. Her bloodshot eyes looked straight at the young man before her.

"Did he...Did my father _hurt_ you?" Draco's voice, filled with anguish and sadness. He did not know whether he should be sad or angry at her, or at his father.

When the Healer had contacted him all the way to Paris, telling Draco his father was in St. Mungo, he had apparate immediately and fearing the worse.

On the way to see his father, he'd met with the Weasley siblings. Ginny had told him off by saying his father was a bastard, and that Draco should be glad that she didn't kill him off or left him there to die. George had been more subtle in his threats. His only comment was that if Lucius hadn't been under the influence of _Amortentia_ , he would have personally _Crucio_ the man for assaulting a helpless young woman.

That had got Draco's immediate attention. When he demanded what the hell were those two talking about, the Weasley siblings had just brushed him away and told him to go and see it for himself.

By the time Draco arrived, he was surprised to see the ex-Potion Master was together with his Father's harlot. Seeing how she dressed made him think the worse of his father.

Surely he couldn't... _Impossible!_ Draco knew his father was many things but rapist was certainly not one of them.

Yet his mind still argued about it.

It took Claire for a while to reply as she had been taken back by his question. Looking into his eyes, she saw his emotions were all jumbled together. He looked like he was already at the edge of losing his mind.

How she answer would determine his reaction.

"He didn't violated me,Draco." Claire finally found her voice. Her tone was soft and neutral.

"But Weasley said-"

"Well, _I_ said he didn't violated me! Who are you going to believe? Me or them?"

Draco slowly sunk into the floor as if all of his energy faded away the moment she spoke those words very strongly. Draco covered his face with both hands and cried unashamedly.

Severus got up from his seat and went over to him. He then pulled the lad closed before he helped him to the bench where he'd been sitting, beside Claire.

Carefully as he could, Severus put Draco down before he released his arms from him. Claire then gently patted his back.

"He didn't do it.. He would never did it... E-Even as Death-Eater, he didn't... participate any of those events..."

"We know,Draco." Severus said. "He'd been under the influence of _Amortentia_ while he was on a mission."

Draco whipped his tears away using his sleeves. He looked so broken that if Claire hadn't been in the state she was in, she would have gave him a big hug herself.

"For Project DEATH?"

Severus nodded.

"You knew about Project DEATH? I'd thought you said it was classified?" Claire asked Severus.

"Father tried to keep it a secret from me. He didn't want to drag me into anything that's related to the Death-Eaters, but I've got my own resources to check on what he's doing."

Draco looked up and turned to Severus. "You've mentioned _Amortentia,_ Sir. That it means he won't remember any of _it?"_

"He...won't?" Claire looked at the both men, back and forth.

Severus shook his head. "Unfortunately, Miss Rollins, the drinker won't remember any of the event that'd happened." He then with a heavy-heartedly explained to her about the unknown dark-side effects of _Amortentia_.

"Oh." was all Claire managed to say after the explanation.

"Father will be going to Azkaban." Draco suddenly spoke. He looked at Claire with blood shot eyes. "She'll definitely press charges against him."

"Let's not get to that, Draco." Severus calmly stated. He sighed deeply before turning to the clueless Muggle and began another explanation.

"Lucius won't be going to Azkaban any time soon. The agreement between the Minister and the both of us is that as long as we will help them to catch the other Death-Eaters and give out informations, we will be nowhere near Azkaban, unless stated otherwise. for example, should Lucius chose to run away from his agreement or he'd rebelled against us while he was under the agreement, then he will be put away in Azkaban for life."

"She can still presses charges against him!"

"I'm getting there, _boy!"_ Severus hissed lowly at him. Draco hadn't heard him calling him that since his Hogwart's days.

Sighing heavily, Severus continued. "As mentioned by Draco, you still have the rights to press charges against Lucius for an attempted violence toward you, Miss Rollins. If you do press charges against him, as soon as he is done with his works, Lucius will go straight for trials and from there, it will be decide if he should spend the rest of his life in Azkaban or not. They don't act too kindly with ex-Death Eaters like us. It'll be wise if you could come up with your decision soon before the Aurors came to check on him, Miss Rollins."

"I-I have to decide now? I need time to think things over..."

"I understood-"

"What's there to think about?" Draco abruptedly stood up and shouted. "My father is an innocent man! He's a victim! Why should he be in Azkaban while the real person who's responsible for this, gets away with it?!"

"Sit down, _Malfoy."_ Severus's tone was sharp as a nail and poisonous at the words he said next.

"Miss Rollins has every rights to press charges against your father, and you will _respect_ her for that. True, your father had been under the influence Amortentia, but the fact remains that he had _almost violated_ her. I couldn't possibly imagined what would happened to her should the Weasley siblings didn't show up in time. And I highly doubt anyone could understand how Miss Rollins is feeling right now. So shut up and try your best to calm yourself down."

Draco stayed silence and bit his lips. He tried so hard not to talk back at the ex-Potion Master, fearing the consequences. He focused his gaze on the Muggle woman instead.

Just then, the ward in Lucius' room lightened, indicating the patient was now awakened.

Both men were on their feet instantly. A Healer apparate before them. She greeted them briefly before quickly she entered the room.

From inside, they could hear Lucius asking the Healer what had happened to him and why was he here.

Severus looked at Draco before focusing on the Muggle woman on his left.

"You should head to the Fifth Floor, for now."

Claire thought for a moment before she mutely nodded. Severus too nodded. He walked toward the door, gave a couple of soft knocks before turning the knob and he entered with Draco followed behind him.

Claire didn't go to the Fifth Floor immediately like she was supposed to. She walked over to the wall that separated Lucius' room with another and stood there with her back facing the door.

She listened as Severus carefullu explained to him what had happened from the beginning until the very end.

Then, she heard it.

"WHAT?!" Lucius loud voice boomed from his room, followed by the sounds of something breaking and rattled on the floor.

Claire heard the Healer tried to calm him down while asking for backups, but Lucius' voice was the loudest one to hear.

Lucius screamed, shouted and yelled at everyone and destroying everything in the room in his fit rage.

The rest were unheard of as Claire left and making her way to the Fifth floor, with tears running down her cheeks.

* * *

 **An** hour and half later, Claire was once again awaken from her slumber in the waiting room at the Fifth Floor when somone shook her shoulder rather roughly.

She slowly opened her eyes, expected to see Severus' black eyes. When all she saw was grey pair of eyes, Claire immediately straightened her back.

Darco looked at her not amused at all by her reaction. He had never seen his father reacted so wild and outrageously before except today, when Snape had delivered the news to him.

"The Ministers are here. They would like to see you now." She didn't need to be told twice.

Claire got up from the comfortable chair she was half-laying on it and stretched every muscles in her body. Yawned, she nodded and followed him back to the Third Floor.

When she arrived, immediately she saw Severus was talking to three people dressed in robe. None of them were familiar to her at all but she could recognised one based on what had been mentioned several times by Severus.

"Ah, Miss Rollins. Good to see you're up and about. This is our Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt."

"So this is the famous Claire Rollins?" Shacklebolt shook her hand. "I've heard interesting tales about you, my dear. It's a pleasure to meet with you."

"Likewise, Mr. Shacklebolt." Claire smiled. " I hope it wasn't anything bad said about me."

"Moving along." Severus interrupted. He pointed at the Golden Trio. "Miss Rollins, these three here are known as the Golden Trio; Hermione Granger whom you've already met , Ronald Weasley, and finally..."

"Harry Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived." Claire cut in as she shook hands with the younger man with a wide smile. "Boy, have I heard so many tales about you!"

Harry blushed at the comments but smiled nevertheless. "We haven't properly met before. But I'm glad to see you again, Miss Rollins."

"The three of them are here because they are members of project DEATH and also, they're in charged of monitoring both Lucius and I. They, including Minister Shacklebolt would like to ask you of your decision, Miss Rollins. Have you made up you mind yet?"

Claire noticed how far off Draco stood with his arms crossed his chest and one leg crossed on the other. He was fuming at her.

"I have." She turned her view from Draco to thet rest of them.

Severus nodded. He gestured her to come inside as he turned the knob and opened the door.

Claire took a long deep breath. She clenched her fists as she moved, into Lucius' room.

When she entered the room, her heart almost stopped at the sight. Obviously there had been chaos that went on the room after he'd been informed as there were actually less ornaments in the room. What caught her attention the most was the man on the bed.

Lucius looked far worse than he'd been while he was still unconscious. His face was red, his long blond flocks were in a mess, and exhausted and his eyes were bloody red.

He looked nothing like the proud, confident, and self-assured Malfoy. In fact, he looked far, far older than his actual age.

Claire sympathized with him.

When their eyes met, he looked slightly stunned by her appearance but calmed down nevertheless. Draco immediately took his place beside the bed.

"He's been given a high dose of Calm Draught earlier." Severus explained. "He shouldn't be able act outrageously toward you. Though I doubt you wanted to be anywhere near him at the moment." He whispered at the last sentence.

Claire slowly nodded. She didn't move from the spot when Shacklebolt addressed to her.

"Miss Rollins, please know that whatever decision you've decided on, no one is going to judge or blamed you for it. Not even Lucius himself would curse you to hell and back for sending him to Azkaban for the rest of his life. We'd discussed this beforehand and he has agreed to accept whatever punishment and conditions that you are giving him."

At the mentioned of his name, Lucius lifted up his head.

"Tell us your decision, Miss Rollins."

Claire cleared her throat and took a deep breath.

"I've decided _not_ to press any charges against Lucius Malfoy."

 **T** here was a sharp gasp coming from the Golden Trio and one Draco Malfoy. Even Shacklebolt and Severus were in shocked.

Severus looked at Claire sternly. "Are you sure about this? No one is going to blame you, Miss Claire should you choose to-."

Claire firmly nodded. "I'm certain." She looked up to meet with Severus' gaze but refused to meet with Lucius' hard gaze on her.

Clenching her fists, she spoke in a neutral and calm tone.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking about this... It's definitely not an easy one."

Taking a deep breath, she said, "I-I knew deep within my heart, Lucius Malfoy wouldn't have done such heistous thing to me, should he'd not be under the influence of Amortentia. He may be once a Death-Eater, and a persistance one from what I'd heard, but nevertheless, I knew he wouldn't even hurt a child if he could help it-"

"He'd almost killed my sister!" Ronald Weasley shouted.

Claire coughed dryly. "I may not know what he'd done in the past, but _I_ believe he would never intentionally hurt me."

This time she looked up and met with his dark guilty grey eyes. "That's why I won't press any charges against him."

"Well. I guess this settles it then." Shacklebolt's voice broke the unknown spell between them.

" has a proposal for you Miss Claire." Shacklebolt turned to the dark haired man.

"Yes. As stated by Shacklebolt, I've made few proposals that might ease your worries, Miss Rollins. Bear in mind that this is only temporarily and it's entirely up to you to call it off whenever you are ready."

Claire nodded. "Go on."

Snape looked at Lucius and then back at her.

"My proposal is that Lucius will not be anywhere near you. The both of you will be keep separately from one another for as long as you wish to be. Should there be any urgency that need for the two of you to meet, you must be accompany by me or one of the Golden Trio. Or even Draco, in worse case scenarios. But you must never be alone with him - those are the ultimate conditions that I've set. I know you trust him, Miss Rollins, but should anything like this ever happened to you again while he was under influence of something, you wouldn't be so lucky. In fact, you were definitely lucky when Miss Granger had been the one to point out the obvious question and had the Weasley siblings to check on you earlier."

"Obvious question, Snape?" Draco asked in confused.

Claire once again avoid from looking into Lucius' eyes as the next words spoke out from Severus' mouth.

"The thing about Amortentia that not most people are aware off is that it can be used to control people's mind to fullfill one's darkest or strongest inner desire. In other words, someone had been controlling Lucius in order to fullfill _his_ inner desire. That being said..."

"You're sick!" Draco spat at Lucius. "You're sick, father! Lusting after a young woman who is not only enough to be your goddamn daughter, but a _Muggle_?!"

"Draco..." Lucius' weak and strained voice filled with shame and guilt, was reaching out for him. "I will always loved your Mother.. But I'm... I'm just a man. A _weak_ man, Draco..."

"No! Just, shut up! How could you? After Mother had died not too long ago?! How dare _you!"_

"That will be enough coming from you, young man." Shacklebolt raised his hand and cast a silence charm on the still raging Malfoy.

Turning to look at the elder Malfoy, he then said with a gentle voice.

"Lucius, I think what Severus is proposing has benefits. Furthermore, you need to rest. We all do. Miss Rollins?"

"Y-Yes?"

"Do you have any place to stay for the night?"

Well, I have been staying at Malfoy's manor for a while now. But..."

"But?"

Claire clenched her fists. "I don't want to sound particularly rude or ungrateful, but I would like to spend some time away from the manor... That is, if it's okay with everyone?"

"She can stays with us at 12 Grimmauld Place!" Hermione said. "You wouldn't mind would you, Harry? She'll be a lot safer there anyway."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, Miss Granger." Snape replied sharply. " , and yourself are currently busy with your own mission. In the meantime, Miss Rollins will be staying with me."

"But Ginny and George are there! Surely, they are capable enough to provide some sort of protection for her, _."_ Hermione argued, crossing her arms on her chest and raised one perfectly eyebrow.

"That will not do either. Potter," Snape stared sharply at the Wonder Boy. "As the leader of your band of mischiveous, I expect you to be wise in leading your little team. Do NOT do anything foolish without informing me first of your plans, _Harry_. Or I swear to Merlin, I will crush you myself with my own bare hands. Is that understood?"

Understood, Sir." Harry simply nodded, unfazed by Severus' threats.

When everything was said and done, one by one left the room, starting with Draco who stomped off as soon as the Silence Spell had lifted from him.

Then, the Golden Trio excused themselves, stating they'd been exhausted and would be seeing the others again soon. Followed by Shacklebolt.

Finally, it was just the three of them.

Severus looked unsure of what to said and neither weret his two companions.

Stratching his head, Severus decided the best plan was to separate those two for now so that they could be with their own thoughts after a very long night. Also, Severus himself was exhausted from today and desperately needed to get some well deserved rest.

"Miss Rollins, let's go."

Claire blinked her eyes from her thoughts before she nodded. She didn't need to know that Lucius was watching her every moves with guilty and shameful eyes as she walked toward the door and out before shutting the door.


	11. Chapter 11

**shoutout to:**

MissesE: Poor Lucius and Darco! They definitely are in need of some father-son bonding. and thank you! I'm happy to hear you like Claire and that you thought of her that way :D and no, I don't think you're crazy at all for thinking like that. Lucius was under an influence of Amortentia after all. can't blame the man. :) Anyhow, this chapter is for you! enjoy and hope you will like it! ;D

 **CHAPTER 11: A Confession**

 **TWO** months had ended peacefully since Claire had been staying at Severus Snape's childhood home, the Spinner's End, located in a town called Cokeworth, since the incident with Lucius happened.

Claire's first impression of Severus' home had been that it lacked of any _home_ feelings that she was so used to back at her own home town or at her apartment in the Muggle World. Nevertheless, she had put those thoughts at the back of her head and had tried her might to get adjusted to the environment.

Upon her arrival, Severus had several things readily set up for her stay. He had the guest chamber－his old room, cleaned and lighten up for her, while he'd taken his parents' chamber.

The two closed friends were already used of living with each other back at the apartment, so the sudden move into Severus' childhood home hadn't been a shock for Claire at all.

The only thing that she hadn't been too happy about was the tight spaces in the house. Claire had lose counts of how many times they'd bumped into each other on the way to the kitchen or to the sitting room.

While Claire had stayed with Severus, news about Lucius Malfoy on the Daily Prophets shoot the rooftop. At first it had been about his recovery at St. Mungo, with the excuse that the Elder Malfoy had over-exhausted himself with works.

Then, news and rumours of the Malfoy Patriarch had reverted back to his old bachelor self slowly began to resurface:

' **LUCIUS MALFOY BACK IN THE MARKET?'**

' **LUCIUS MALFOY, SEEN IN THE ARMS OF A BLONDE WITCH?'**

' **LUCIUS MALFOY, CAUGHT SNOGGING WITH A BRUNETTE WAITRESS!'**

Severus Snape had been angry when he read about the news. At first,he'd refused to read all of it. He'd stated those journalists had nothing else to do than ruined other people's lives - especially the obnoxious cow Rita Skeeter!

When Severus had come back home late one night, with a bleeding knuckle, Claire had never seen him looked so angry at Lucius. He'd even cursed the man, and warned her to never speak to him ever again!

When Claire had asked him why, Severus only replied was that Lucius had lied to him about everything. When she'd asked him again, this time more persistently him what did he meant by that, Severus refused to answer her.

" _It'll do you good to stay as far away from Lucius. I'd never thought he would reverted back to his old wild self. Unfortunately, those rumours about him turned out to be true after all. I'd confronted him about it and he'd admitted. I strongly advise you to stay away from him for now on, Miss Rollins. You'll be the one who ended up getting hurt in the end."_

Claire hadn't say anything back. She looked down at the newspaper, at the front page with a big photo of Lucius in the arms of his date, a tall elegant young woman who was the daughter of a CEO.

Somehow, Claire felt disappointed with Lucius. She'd thought with all that had happened between them, he could at least find another way to get by and not just simply threw himself in the arms of women.

Claire shook her head. Why should she care what Lucius was doing with his personal life anyway? He could throw himself in the jaw of sharks for all she cared. Taking Severus' advise, Claire Rollins had decided from that moment, whatever Lucius doing from now on was none of her business whatsoever.

Finally, the two long period of months ended as November and Autumn arrived.

Claire had been more than glad when Severus had told her one cool night while they had their dinner that by Minister Shacklebolt's permission, she was allowed to return to the Muggle World very soon.

Claire had been rejoiced by the news. As much as she was enjoying her stay at the Wizarding World and her interest about everything magical had grown greatly each day, Claire had been homesick for months. She'd longed to be back at her apartment, lay on her own comfortable bed, meeting up with her friends, Bosses and colleagues－her World.

When Claire had mentioned how happy she had been when he delivered the news, she had been afraid that he took an offence of her not liking his world. Instead, Severus had simply given a small smirk as he reached out for his cup of tea.

Two days later, Claire stood in front of her apartment door with the black haired man as she unlocked the door. Turning the knob and opening the door, she had been greatly shocked when something attacked her －silly strings－ the moment she opened the door, followed by a loud "Surprise!"

Claire stood there and was literally gawked at the sight she was seeing.

There were big 'Welcome Home and Home Sweet Home' banners hanging everywhere on the walls, with magical bubbles came out from nowhere. A long rectangle table filled with various food were served at the corner of the living room with a big bowl of fruity punch and some firewhiskey and chocolates.

Everyone who looking at her with goofy smiles on their faces.

Ginny and George Weasley had been the ones who'd attacked with cans of silly strings. Behind her, the Golden Trio was clapping their hands gleefully.

Claire couldn't smile even widened when everything became clear to her.

They'd come to welcome her home.

* * *

 **LIFE** went on for Claire like the usual. She hadn't heard anything about Lucius since she'd returned to the Muggle World and back to her normal routines.

Her colleagues had been worried sick about her when Severus had told them a couple of months ago that she'd been having a hard time dealing with everything that had been going on since her parents' death.

They all had told her should she need anything at all, they would be more than willing to help her.

Claire had been touched by their kindness and thanked them for it.

On the twelve night of November, on Friday night exactly at one o'clock in the morning, something unexpected happened.

Heavy footsteps reluctantly walked toward the front door. Claire pulled her robe closer to her body as she opened the front door slightly, ready to give whoever to tell whoever kept banging on her front door to sod off when she stopped.

It was a face she hadn't seen for months.

"Lucius."

Lucius Malfoy was well dressed in his perfectly tailored robe. He looked healthier than the last time she'd seen him back at the hospital. However, he looked greatly in distressed.

"Is Severus in?"

"Severus went for am urgent meeting with Minister Shacklebolt and the Golden Trio..."

Lucius cursed. He turned his back at her and took a deep breath.

"I see. Very well then, thank you for all your help and sorry for all the trouble. Good night, Miss Rollins." He was about to leave when Claire stopped him.

"Wait! What happened?"

Lucius inhaled deeply before he exhaled. "I assure you it is none of your concern. It's a small matter anyway."

"Bullshit! You didn't even show your face, not even once since I've moved out of the Manor, and yet here you, are seeking for Severus' help when you don't even knowing where he is! Something serious has happened, isn't it, _Malfoy?_ "

 _Ah. So we're back to last name basics, aren't we?_

Lucius still didn't turn to look at her. He let out a long sigh before he spoke in the usual Malfoy manner, "Darco has gone missing."

"What?"

"I believe, no, I _know_ he's been kidnapped. He and Miss Greengrass, his female friend. However I do not know who. It could be a possible link to whoever the person we all have been searching for months."

"Do you have any evidences?"

Lucius nodded. "I do. But I can't show it here. The proof requires me to use of magic."

"Understood. Wait for me, I'll go with you."

Shock was obviously evidently on Lucius' face.

"I beg your pardon?"

Claire closed the door and unlocked the lock before she ushered for Lucius to come inside.

"Wait at the living room for a moment while I get dress. Then we can apparate to the Minister's office."

"Miss Rollins, surely you did not wish to come along with me? After all that I'd done to you..."

Lucius had a lot of expectation when he arrived here. He'd expected her to react airy about the situation, especially when Draco had done nothing but insulted her. He'd expected her to shut the door on him without even listening to his request.

Claire rolled her eyes at his words, grabbing her jacket.

"Will you quit being so self-pity about _it_? I got over it months ago! Besides, this is not about you or me. It's about your son. Now, we can stay here and argue all night long or we can head to the Minister's office now. I'm ready when you are."

Lucius stared at her for a moment before he cleared his throat and nodded.

She was right. This is about finding Draco. They could sort their own problems later. One thing Lucius knew for sure, once this was over and done with, they both need to talk about _it_ soon.

* * *

 **Severus** Snape together with the Golden Trio and Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt had just finished with their meeting and were about to call it a night when there were soft knocks on the door.

"Come in." Shacklebolt ordered.

The door opened and instantly the trio raised their wands at one of the two newcomers.

"What are you doing with him?" Severus asked, sharply.

"He's with me! I was the one who'd wanted to come along, Severus."

"I sure hope you have a very good explanation, Miss Rollins. _Lucius._ " His nostrils flared with anger as he stared at Lucius.

" _Severus."_ Lucius held on to his dignity. He could still remember how stung his right cheek from being hit by him.

Never did he expected the black haired man could threw a powerful punch when he'd confronted him about the rumours spreading around on him. Severus had questioned Lucius about his feelings for Miss Claire again and the confessions he'd made the other day, whether they were sincere or not.

When Lucius couldn't answered him and simply admitted that the rumours were true and that he'd missed and had been able to enjoy doing all those wild and crazy things that none of which he was sure someone as good as Miss Claire wouldn't never able to do it, like he'd done so in the past with willing women who had literally threw themselves at his feet, Severus had punched him then and called him pathetic. He had also warned him to not talked to Claire ever again.

Yet here he was, _with_ her, while she briefly explained to them about the situation they were in, including the missing Draco.

Draco.

That brought him back his focus. Lucius clenched his fists. He needed to solve this first.

 _Stay focus._

"May we see the evidences,Lucius?" Shacklebolt's voice echoed the empty room. "Of course." Lucius pulled out a sheet of paper from his chest pocket. He tapped his wand on it and one by one alphabetic letters began to appear.

Harry Potter took the sheet for a closer inspection.

"'Dualimous Kitious'. Does that sounds familiar to any of you?"

"It's an declaration of duel, Potter." Severus answered. "The sender is challenging Lucius for a duel. Judging for the look of it, I take this as a personal grudge against you, Lucius?"

"Probably. But why kidnapped Draco and Miss Greengrass? If it's a rival business thing, they have nothing to do with it nor do they could provide any useful informations. Draco is still learning how to cope with the company. It will takes him at least four more years until he could finally managed everything on his own. And Miss Greengrass certainly has nothing to do with this!"

"True. But then, don't rival companies usually play dirty tricks? What if this is a set up for them to demand anything from you in exchange for their lives, Lucius?" Claire suggested. "What would you do then?"

"I'll give into their requests as long as Draco's safety is under compromise." Lucius rubbed his aching forehead. "I need to tell Mr. Greengrass that his daughter has been kidnapped. Astoria Greengrass was supposed to be Draco's date to the ball tonight. They were supposed to arrive at the manor by seven o'clock sharp, but they were nowhere to be seen until this letter arrived at half past eight sharp."

Lucius excused himself to write and owl the oldest Greengrass. He was followed by both Hermione and Ron to the other room.

Meanwhile, tension arose in the air between Severus and Claire. Even Harry noticed the tension but chose not to address it at the moment.

Shacklebolt broke the silence. "Well, what do you think about the situation that'd been said by Lucius just now?"

"It sounds highly suspicious to me." Harry answered.

"Explain, Harry."

"Well, for one thing, what does the kidnapper has in common with this case and the previous one?"

"Lucius." Claire answered after a moment. "They were both targeting Lucius."

"Exactly, Miss Rollins. Like you'd mentioned earlier, rivals, especially big business companies like Lucius love to play dirty tricks, right? But surely, they'd know that kidnapping the Malfoy's Patriarch won't gained them anything beneficial?"

"What are you getting at, Potter?" Severus questioned.

"What I mean is that, unless kidnapping Draco has a deep meaning, then they won't do it, right? And don't go telling me off they do it for the sake of money either. This must be something bigger than that. Something that they know would threatened the Malfoy's fortune."

The door once again opened, and came a very pissed off Lucius with Hermione and Ron tailed behind them. Both were holding out to their wands and pointed them at him.

Lucius looked as if he was ready to start another Wizarding War right here and there. Claire realised he was holding on a piece of parchment in his left hand in a tight grip.

"What do you have there in your hand, Lucius?" Claire bravely spoke, pointed at the parchment.

"His attorney sent him an owl just awhile ago." Hermione stated uncomfortably. "Apparently, Draco Malfoy has decided by himself upon himself to appoint himself as the new-"

"The new Patriarch!" Lucius bellowed. "He had selfishly appointed himself as the Malfoy's Patriarch without informing _me!_ That foolish boy didn't know just what troubles he's gotten himself into the moment he changed his name to become the Malfoy's Patriarch!"

Heads began to stretch at Darco's recklessness.

Claire had taken a seat on one of the chairs. She had her forehead against the table. She was getting very sleepy.

Stupid Draco. What had he been thinking? Doing such things... Did he had another fight with Lucius? What could they be fighting abo...

Claire's eyes suddenly widened.

 _Don't tell me..._

Turning to look at Lucius, she said, "Did you and Draco had a fight because of me?"

All eyes were on her when she addressed to him.

Lucius blinked his eyes couple of times. He looked away and refused to meet with any of their gazes.

"Tell me the truth, Lucius. Did you or did you not have an argument with Draco because of me?" She looked at him straight in the eyes.

Taking a long deep sighed, Lucius admitted. "Yes. We had an argument because of _you,_ Miss Rollins. But that's another story-"

"No. That is the root of the problem. Can't you see? Draco did this as a payback to provoke you for whatever it is that you'd done or said to him. Obviously it has gone wrong. What exactly did you two argued about?"

"Miss Rollins, I don't think discussing about the problem right here and now is quite appropriate." Lucius tried to argue.

"I think it is quite the opposite. Minister?"

Shacklebolt nodded. "Everything that is being said here will be kept as a secret." Lucius sighed and cursed lowly.

"Draco has threatened to disown my every rights as the Malfoy's Patriarch should I refuse to... Get rid of the _disgusting_ and inappropriate _feelings_ that I have for Miss Rollins. I didn't think he would actually does it, though."

The tension in the air slowly became awkward. None of them knew what to say. Severus Snape kept staring at his good friend who refused to look at anyone except the ground.

Shame and guilt of having deep feelings for the younger girl was killing him. Lucius felt like he wanted to die. Die because of the shame and guilt he'd brought to to the Malfoy's family. But for the love of Merlin, he couldn't help it.

He was in love with her.

Two and half months of not seeing her had made him realised this fact. Lucius had tried, oh God, he had tried to get rid of his feelings for her. The sole reason why he'd went out with those women in the first place. He'd thought if he could act like his old bachelor self again.

Oh how wrong he had been.

The more Lucius pleasured himself in the arms of the women, the harder it was for him to forget about Claire.

She consumed in his mind each and every seconds.

She was the one thing Lucius couldn't have but wanted more than anything elsw－ the forbidden fruit.

For the first time in his life, Lucius Malfoy found himself falling deeply in love.

Slowly, Lucius lifted his head and looked at the Muggle woman who looked back at him with wide eyes and crimson coloured face.

Lucius managed a small smile at her.

* * *

 **BY** the time Claire was on her way back to her apartment, dawn was just about to arrive. Claire yawned loudly and stretched her arms. She need to call in for work today. There was no way she could go to work in this condition. Besides, they all had agreed to start search for Draco once they found a lead where Draco and Astoria were.

Severus had been assigned to scoop around to find their whereabouts, along with Harry and Ron.

Yawning again, she covered one hand on her mouth when her eyes landed at the tall blonde man walking in front of her.

Lucius hadn't said a word to her since they both left the Minister's office. He had offered to send her back home, much to Hermione's disagreement. Hermione had offered Claire to stay at the 12 Grammauld Place with her, but Claire had declined, stated she'd be fine.

In truth, she had been meaning to ask him, but had been too much of a coward. Did he really has feelings for her? If so, how deep was his feelings? Thinking about that caused her face to burn once again.

Claire stared at his back.

It's not to say that she'd never felt anything toward him. What women couldn't resist being with such powerful man and Wizard like Lucius? He had everything, money, power and endless fortunes.

None of that really matters to Claire. Initially, she couldn't accept his over-confident self and his self-righteous ways. As they spent more time getting to know each other, Claire slowly found herself enjoyed his company.

That was until...

"We've arrived." Claire was snapped from her thoughts by Lucius' smooth voice. She nearly crushed into his back when he suddenly stopped moving.

"Ah, you're right." Taking a few steps forward, Claire began to unlock the door.

Once the door was unlocked, she turned to face with him.

"Thank you.." She avoided looking at him. "For sending me back safely."

" _Claire."_ Lucius called her gently. He didn't move from his spot a few steps away from her. "We need to talk."

"Can't it wait?" Claire said reluctantly. "I'm exhausted..."

Lucius shook his head. "It can't. I'd thought of waiting, believe me. But it can't wait." he took a small step forward. "I just need you to listen to what I have to say. I don't need your answer. Only your ears, Claire."

Lucius took a long deep breath. "I'm attracted to you. Far more than that actually, I am in _love_ with you. I know you feel disguised by the idea of an older man such myself to have feelings for someone so young and with so much in life to look up to, but this is the fact; I am in love with you. I do not expect you to return my feelings or answer to it at all. But I would like you to know how I feel, Miss Claire. The rumours that you've heard and read, they were all true. I did that so that I could forget about you. But even so, I could not simply forget about you. There's something about you that allured me so much..."

"Lucius-"

"No, Claire. I merely wanted you to know how I felt about you. You are free to love any man that your heart desired, but do know that you've captured my heart first. I will not stand in your way. And know that I will _never_ hurt you." He reached a hand and lightly stroke her hair.

With another sad smile, Lucius turned away and began to walk back.

Leaving a very confused Claire still standing at the front door.


	12. Chapter 12

**shoutout to:**

MissesE: Yess it takes Lucius long enough to admit his feelings lol XD I feel sorry for the poor man, torturing him like this! *slap myself* Don't worry, there's a bit mystery in the story. After all, what's life without a good mystery? ;) I hope you enjoy this one! Cheers!

P/S: Sorry this chapter's short!

 **CHAPTER 12: A Fool**

 **THE** clock finally struck at midnight. The day was now Sunday morning. Claire Rollins were waiting at the big rounded table in the Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt's office, for the arrival of the three men who had been gone from morning. They had been assigned to find the location of Draco Malfoy and Astoria Greengrass' whereabouts.

Claire sat anxiously the table. Dotted in a black turtle-neck top with a red bandanna on her head, she wore an army pants with a matching army boots, and a pair of black fingerless gloves. Sitting beside her was Lucius, looking as calm and collected as ever. Sitting opposite them were Hermione, Ginny and her older brother, George. At the head of the table was Shacklebolt.

The thick silence air between them was intense. The assigned group was supposed to come back at ten o'clock sharp with the news, but something had happened. None of them wanted to speak,fearing to break the silence.

After some time have passed, the fireplace of the room lightened up in green flame.

The first person to step out from the fireplace was Ronald Weasley, followed by Harry Potter and lastly Severus Snape. None of them looked too pleased.

They took their seats at the round table and let out a heavy sighs.

"Severus... My son. Have you seen him?" Lucius asked worriedly.

Severus nodded. "He and Miss Greengrass are okay. In fact," He turned and looked at the fireplace. Not sooner than that, the fireplace once again lightened in green flame before one Draco Malfoy appeared.

"Draco!" Lucius got up and rushed to hug his son. Who awkwardly hugged him back.

"Are you all right?" Lucius pulled away and inspected his son's face for any injuries. When he found none, he let out a long relief sigh. "Thank Merlin you're okay. Where's Miss Greengrass? Wasn't she with you?"

At Lucius' question, Draco avoided his father's gaze.

"Draco?"

"Tell him the _truth_ ,Draco." Severus said lowly with a hardened gaze on him.

"Tell me what?"

Guilt filled in Draco's face.

"I-I'm very sorry, father. I didn't mean to do it.. I didn't mean to get Astoria involved with this. I-I was just trying to teach you a lesson."

"What in Merlin's name are you talking about, boy?"

"It was all a set-up! There was no kidnapping plot!" Darco screamed.

Lucius felt like someone had just splashed him a bucket of cold water. He lowered his hands and brought them back to his sides. "What?"

"I'd tried to warn you, Father! I said if you don't get rid of your feelings to that-that _Muggle_ I will-"

 _SMACK!_

A loud sound echoed in the empty room as something hard hit Draco across his face till he shamefully fell backward on the ground.

Draco hissed and swore. One hand reached out to his bleeding nose. When he looked back, instantly he met with a pair of angry brown eyes, glaring back at him.

"You ungrateful spoiled bastard!" Claire yelled angrily. She clenched her left fist, the one she'd used to struck him with.

Just then, Claire felt a hand roughly wrapped her arm from the back and forced her to face with one angry Malfoy.

"Who gives you any rights to struck my son, _Miss_ Rollins?" Lucius hissed.

"If he was my son, I'd hit him even harder than that!" She roughly pulled her arm away before turning to face with Draco again while ignoring Lucius's angry rants at her.

"You! Do you have any idea what sort of trouble you've caused? How worried your father was for your safety? From now on, if you have any problems with me, you come talk to ME like the man your parents have raised you to be! I don't give a crap if you despise me, or insult me, or even want me dead, but you do not drag other people into your own personal damn business! This is _low,_ Malfoy. Even for you."

Claire roughly grabbed the ice packet from Severus' hand much to his dismay, and then threw it at Draco, nearly hitting his face.

"Keep that thing on your face unless you want to suffer an ugly bruise later on. You annoying _prat!_ "

Without waiting, she stormed of the room, leaving everyone stunned by her actions and behaviours.

* * *

 **Claire** was lending her head against the wall while cursing her own stupidity.

 _Idiot,idiot,idiot! Just what the hell possessed you to do such thing to him? Hit him in front of everyone?! I'm pretty sure I won't be able to live long after this! In fact, I bet he's cursing my soul to hell and back for hitting him now..._

Taking a deep breath, she recalled back just what had made her stepped in front of Lucius and punched Draco.

It was more of just him insulting her by blaming her for his father's feelings toward her. Like seriously? How could you blame the person his father had feelings for? It's ridiculous!

Taking a deep sigh, Claire was about to put everything behind and walked back into the room when the door suddenly opened, Hermione and Ginny stood at the door with hard faces.

Claire lifted her hands in the air.

Perhaps she'd been mistaken. Perhaps they have been sent by Lucius to get rid of her. After all, all is fair in love and war, right? It takes a woman to fight with another woman－well in her case, _women._ But still!

"Listen girls." Claire took a deep breath. "If you're going to curse me with whatever spell, I ask that you do so very quickly and-"

Before she could finished her words, Claire was pulled into a hug by both of the girls and they jumped gigglingly and excitedly.

"I can't believe you'd actually punched that stupid ferret! That's like the second times he'd being punched by a girl!"

 _Ferret?_

"I'd thought only Hermione had the guts to do so! But you, you sneaky little _minx_ you!" Ginny chuckled and released the older woman from her arms.

"I'm afraid I can't comprehend what's going on at the moment here... Shouldn't you two be like, cursing me or something? I did hit a Wizard in front of everyone after all. Isn't there like a sort of Wizarding Law when a Muggle to hit a Wizard or something? A punishment?"

Hermione snorted. "Of course there are laws. But it's _Malfoy._ As much as I'm willing to give him a chance to redeem himself for what he'd done to us, than most of us are willing, he'd practically insulted and annoyed the hell out of me all those years in Hogwarts. I'll take whatever chances I can to get back to him. This is one of them. Indirectly speaking, of course."

"I see... So you're not going to...hex me or do anything like that, right? I've heard of you, Ginny Weasley. Especially your infamous Bat-Bogey Hex from Severus. And dare I say, I do not wish to experience that in this lifetime."

Ginny chuckled again. "No worries. I'm quite a reasonable person really. As long as you do not annoyed me, I won't do such things to you. Honest!"

Letting out a relieved sigh, Claire looked back at the two women with a smile of her own. She looked at her wristwatch; two O'clock in the morning.

Letting a yawn, she decided to call it a night. "I dunno about you two but I'm exhausted."

"Oh, then would you like us to give you a lift then?"

Claire smiled. "Thank you. But first, let me ask my dear house-mate. Excuse me, ladies." Claire turned the knob and opened the door.

"Severus?" she called from the door. Severus had been talking quietly with Lucius lifted his head when he heard his name was being called.

"Are you coming home any time soon? If not, I'll have to ask Hermione and Ginny to drop me off."

The ex-Potion Master looked from the Muggle who asked him the question to the two women behind her before he turned to Lucius and nodded his head.

"I still have some matters that needed to discuss with Kingsley. You go on ahead. Be sure to lock the door before you go to bed."

"Got it. Good night, Severus. Good night, everyone."

"Good night, Miss Claire. Sleep well."

Her eyes looked up when a soothing voice wished her a good night rest. Dark brown met with Lucius' grey eyes as smiled at her. Her mind suddenly recalled his love confession to her earlier of the day. Instantly, her face turned bright crimson. Quickly Claire nodded her head before she looked away and shut the door.

 _W-What's wrong with me? I'd never reacted like this before whenever he smiled at me... What changed I wonder?_

"Claire? Are you ready to leave now?" Hermione's voice broke her out from her thoughts. She looked up and gave an awkward smile at the younger women. Hoping they won't see just how red her face was.

* * *

 **Lucius** was at his private library, sitting at his desk with a glass of firewhiskey in his left hand. His other hand was massaging his throbbing forehead. He was dressed in a silky evening robe.

Despite how many hours have passed since Draco was 'found', he couldn't force himself to go to sleep. There were so many things running through in his mind at the moment.

The most crucial thing was what Severus Snape had told him in private earlier that got him all troubled and bothered.

" _We've found this Poison Ivy dart that was aimed at Darco when we'd confronted him at the Greengrass' Summer mansion. We've failed to catch up with the shooter,but this proves that someone is out to get you for real, Lucius. Whether it's Death-Eaters or business rivals, I'd watch my back if I were you."_

Two soft knocks were knocking on his door, instantly Lucius was brought back to reality. He looked up and saw his only son, dressed in his own evening robe. The last time Lucius had seen him looked this miserable was when the Dark Lord had tasked him to kill Albus Dumbledore.

Lucius knew he must have felt guilty for deceiving him, to go as far as plotting his own kidnapping. Lucius also knew he had every rights to be angry and scold the young fool for his thoughtless and reckless act.

However, when his eyes looked up at the boy's face and saw the ugly bruise still presented on his son's left cheekbone, all of his anger fade away.

She had done it again.

Claire Rollins always done the unexpected things at an unexpected times. The first time were when she'd suddenly showed up at his Muggle Office to offer a friendship truce. And then when she had suddenly slapped that cow Rita Skeeter, and boldly kissed Severus Snape in public.

Time and time again, she had never once, stopped to amuse him with her unusual antics. That was one of the many reasons why he'd found himself attracted to her. And eventually, he began to fall for her.

"Can I help you, Draco?" He spoke with a neutral tone. He had his hands underneath his chin as he looked at the young man in the eyes.

"I would like to talk to you, Father." Draco stepped into the door and closed the door.

Silently, he made his way toward Lucius' desk. The young wizard refused to sit down even when he was offered to. Taking a deep breath, he said with a shaky voice.

"Father, what I'd done was terribly wrong and childish. I deserved to be humiliated by a Muggle like her. I also deserved to be scolded by you, Father. But understand this Father, I'm trying to protect our family from being manipulated by people like the Dark Lord again! She may be a Muggle, but even a Muggle knows how to be a wicked witch! What made you so sure that she's harmless? For you know she could be hidden an ulterior motive beyond her cheeky attitudes-" He stopped talking when Lucius raised one hand in the air and got up from his seat. His back was facing Draco when he looked at the cold, Autumn view outside through the glassed window of his room.

"I will only say this once, Draco, no matter what you say or do, I will not leave her."

"Father-"

"I'd loved your Mother greatly, Draco. She had been a constant support for me. However, I'd never falling truly deeply in love with her. Your mother and I came from the same high-class family. We'd grown to love, respect and loyal to each other. But we were never truly in loved. What I felt for Miss Claire Rollins was nothing like I'd felt for any women. I felt loved for her. I felt myself falling in love for the first time. I don't expect you to understand this, Draco, but I do expect you to respect my feelings."

Draco looked disguised but he tried to control it.

"Does she reciprocate your feelings?"

"She does not nor do I wanted her to. I'd told her about my feelings earlier today."

"You did?" Draco's eyes grew widened.

"Yes. I'd told her she's free to love whoever her heart desires. I will not stop her nor will I ever hurt her." Lucius let out unexpected sigh. "I'd thought of courting her. But after that _incident_ , there was no way I could bring myself to cross that line ever again."

"So you're just going to stand there and watch as she loves another man? You're willing to do that all for _her_ sake?"

To Draco's great surprise, he smiled at him.

"Yes. In the future, should things changed between us, it will have to be on her calls, alone. Not mine. Never mine. You see Draco, love is a fragile thing. It needs not only to give but to receive as well. As deeply as my feelings goes to her, I will not be the type of man who would simply gives his love away to a young woman who may or may not reciprocate my feelings."

Draco said nothing at that. Who was he to talk about love anyway when his own love life was closed to zero.

Astoria Greengrass.

She'd been the little sister of Daphne Greengrass, his former classmate and one of Pansy Parkinson's gang. He'd met her right after the War ended at The Three Boomsticks, after his father chose to abandon everything and left the Wizarding World to grieve for his dead wife, thus, leaving everything on Draco's laps.

Astoria had been there to have some peace of mind after a huge riot going on between her and her dear father.

It had been awkward at first, talking between them. They'd found they have more commons than they'd thought about their life views on the Muggle, half-blood and squibs after the Second Wizarding war ended. They'd shared things, secrets thing none of them were willing to share with anyone else.

Draco soon found himself comfortable with Astoria's presence more than he could tolerate Pansy's possessive behaviours, at times.

But that was simply it between them.

Astoria had her own demons she needed to deal with and he had his family to worry about. There was no rooms for them to have any other feelings for each other except for non-physical comforts. They both needed someone to be able to talk and to release some of the frustration they had kept inside. Someone who could understand what they went through with the drastic changes of the war.

"Understood, Father." Draco said after a moment. "Just to clear, I will never accept a Muggle marrying into the Malfoy's family. But for your sake, I will _try_ to act more tolerable toward _Miss Rollins_ in the future _._ Because I love you. _"_

Lucius's eyes widened of hearing the last sentences that was said to him before Draco left the room. Turning his head, Lucius stared the empty space Draco had just occupied a minute ago, with his mouth slightly agape.

Had Darco just given him permission to court the lovely Miss Rollins?

* * *

 **CLAIRE** Rollins woke up early on a cold Tuesday morning. She made two cups of coffee and two plates of toast, baked beans and eggs for herself and Severus before the latter left for work - he'd found another job as a Chemistry Teacher at another Muggle Private high school, with the help of Lucius Malfoy.

Lucius had pulled back the generous amount of donation he'd donated at the school Severus taught due to the fact the school chose to fire Severus because of the apparent 'scandal' he and and date had made on the Spring break ball.

Drinking her coffee calmly, Claire's peace of mind was interrupted when someone had rang a bell at her door.

"Just a minute!" She tightened her robe and hurried to the door.

Claire opened the door slightly before she slowly opened it fully.

Her mouth was agape, her eyes were widened. There he was, standing before her wearing his finest suit was Lucius Malfoy with a single red rose in his right hand, while his left hand was holding onto his walking stick.

"Miss Claire." Lucius began, with a smoothing voice that sounded a bit too seductive to her ears.

He offered her the rose, which Claire reluctantly take it from him.

"T-To what do I owe you the pleasure early this morning, Lucius?"

Lucius smiled. "I would like to formally ask you to spend the rest of your time with me. In short, Miss Claire, I'm asking you for a date with me, if you will?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Shoutouts to:**

lilacwaffles: Yeay! So happy you liked it! Thanks for the review! This one is for you! ;)

MissesE: Aww, you made this writer shed to tears! Thank you so much for the huge compliment! I've had a hard time in creating the character Claire. As such, to hear a positive remarks about her character is always a good thing ;) haha and yes nothing can stop Lucius now. This is for you! Enjoy! ;D

 **Chapter 13: Date**

 **W** HEN Lucius had shown up at her front door; holding a red rose and asking her to spend the entire day with him. In other word, a date with him.

Claire had to blink her eyes several times. Surely she'd heard it wrong? Did Lucius Malfoy just asked her out for a date?

"You're kidding me."

"I kid you not, Miss Claire." Lucius took another step forward to her. "Now then, we can either stand here and continue to stare at each other's eyes or you could let me in and wait for you while you go on and get ready? I'd prefer to choose the former, to be honest. I've always like to look inside the depth of your eyes."

Claire backed away and stepped aside for him to enter.

Lucius smirked in satisfactionately. Teasing her, seeing how she blushed so easily around him now had become something he absolutely enjoyed and cherished.

Now that he had gotten Draco's more-or-less blessing for him to court her, nothing and nobody could get in Lucius' way.

As Lucius entered the sitting room, he noticed how little things changed since the last he'd been here.

"Make yourself at home. Well techically, this is still your home since you're still paying the rent. Your room is left untouched by the way. I'd locked it." She handed him a copy of his room key.

"Thank you. Though, I don't mind if you enter it. I have nothing to hide." Claire looked at him, with a rising eyebrow at his comment.

Lucius smirked grew. He decided to be a tease. "I certainly do not _mind_ at all if you wish to sleep on my bed sometimes. Perhaps I will join you, that is, if given a chance."

 _No,_ Claire told herself. She would not react to his words. She would be in charged of her own emotions and not let it be the boss of her. But dammit, his voice was so damn sultry when he said those words that she couldn't help but to turn all red from her neck to her whole face!

Not saying another words, Claire stormed off to her room and locked it before she headed for a shower.

Lucius chuckled. His little minx was blushing, again. While waiting for his little minx to get ready, Lucius decided to look around the sitting room. While he had stayed at the apartment, Lucius never truly took a good look at the surroundings.

To Lucius' great surprise, the first thing that caught his eyes was that the fireplace had been connected with the floo network. He saw a flowerpot near the fireplace filled with floo powder. Other than that, he also noticed the apartment was protected by an invisible magical barrier.

 _Severus_.

He'd must have spoken with Kingsley about allowing the floo network to be connected to the Apartment so that it would be easier for any one of them to check on Claire. It made sense; while the little minx couldn't use the floo, they could at least checked upon her should they felt her life was being endangered.

He could check on her.

Lucius' eyes moved from the floo powder to the invisible magical barrier that surrounded the whole apartment. He let out a silence smile.

Lucius knew he should be jealous of Severus for earning most of his little minx's trust, but he found himself he couldn't. They have been loyal to one another even before he'd realised he had feelings for Claire. And part of him felt a sense of relief to know that if he could trust Claire with any men,it would be Severus.

A soft cough broke the silence of the sitting room. Lucius turned around and came face to face with the still red faced Muggle dotted in a Sytherin green turtle-neck top with black jeans. She wore a red beanie on top of her head.

"Dear Merlin..." Lucius whispered softly. He never left his eyes on her.

"Y-You can stop staring now!" Claire shouted abruptedly at him. She felt so self-conscious standing in the same room with him who won't stopped staring at her.

It was driving her crazy! She was never this self-conscious with a man before. Not even with that bastard Caleb. So why...

Claire blinked her eyes when she saw Lucius offered his hand for her to take. He wore a smile on his handsomely face.

"Shall we?" Claire hesitatingly accepted his offered hand.

Immediately, Lucius brought his lips over to the back of her palm and kissed it softly. His eyes never left hers.

Soon afterwards, the couple Apparante over to the Wizarding World.

* * *

 **A** UTUMN in the Wizarding World was almost the same as it was in the Muggle World. However, what made this year's Autumn so special was because it was the reopened of the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup after the end of the Battle.

Everyone, including the Malfoys, were invited to attend the opening ceremony and watched the match between rival Houses, Slytherin and Gryffidor by the new Headmistress of Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall.

Claire was so in awed with Hogwarts, by the time they'd arrived at Hogwarts Entrance Gates, she didn't realise her hands were still entangled with Lucius'. Not that the Malfoy Patriarch said nor do anything to untangle it.

In fact, he pulled her closer to him as to show off to everyone that she was his.

Unfortunately, someone _had_ noticed their entangled hands when she recognised the tall blonde and the familiar young Muggle beside him and had gasped aloud.

Already forgotten her main purpose for attending the match to cover the story between the famous House Rivals, Rita Skeeter had her eyes set on something that was far more interesting than boring children riding broomsticks.

* * *

 **"C** laire!"

The said woman turned her head around at the VIP booth just in time to see Hermione was waving her hands at her few steps away down below at the Alumni Students' Booth. Together with her were her two best friends and one George Weasley.

Claire waved her hands frantically back at them.

"Where's Ginny?"

"She's playingfor the Gryffindor. Both Seeker and Chaser!" Harry shouted, as more people began to gather around them.

"I'll cheer for her then!"

"You're wearing a Slyterin's colour! Bloody traitor!" Ron shouted back.

"Who the hell cares? Besides, I'm wearing a red beanie! I'll cheer for both Houses then!" Claire fought a giggle threatening to escape her lips. Ronald Weasley rolled his eyes at her comment but she did see a smirk on his lips.

Despite she being Lucius' date today and her good relationship with both the men that he hated with great passion, Ronald knew he couldn't include an innocent Muggle with their bad history.

Not to mention, she had hit the arrogant ferret a little while back. It was a good hit too. Any girl who could made Draco Malfoy kissed the ground was an immediate friend, in Ronald Weasley's book. Plus, both his fiancee and sister liked her a lot.

Especially Hermione. She longed to have a sister to look up to. In Claire, Hermione found a big sister who was not only a total Muggle, but she's a Muggle who kicked Malfoy's arse!

Claire was definitely enjoying herself. Her eyes wandered at her surroundings when all the sudden, Luciud held on a glass of something red at her.

"Cheers, Miss Claire."

"Lucius, you know I don't drink anything contained alcohol..."

"Ah yes. However, I do seem to recall that Roselle Iced Tea was your favourite drink."

"You mean, this is..."

"It's not iced. But it doesn't contained any alcoholic either." Lucius raised his glass. "Cheers, Claire."

Clunk! Their glasses clashed.

Claire brought the glass to her lips and devoured the sweet taste of Roselle.

"It's not tea either. What is it?"

Lucius leaned forward closer to her left ear. He pulled the strings of her hair behind her ear and whispered seductively, "It's a secret."

Claire swallowed the drink before focused her attention at the opening ceremony.

 **H** alfway throughout the game, Claire was full heartedly enjoying herself. She cheered, she screamed, she yelled, she even swore loudly when it had been a foul play in the middle of the good game, which caused some of the other VVIPs to glare at her and whispered lowly behind her back.

Lucius on the other hand, had kept his chin high up with every little moment his minx was enjoying herself. Even when the other VVIPs were glaring at her - at them, Lucius sat proudly beside his date.

His minx could do whatever she wishes to do and he would not forbid it. As for the rest of the VVIPs, they could all go to hell for all he cared.

Claire had been in such an exciting mood she didn't even noticed how closed she sat beside Lucius, so close their thighs were literally touching each other. She didn't even noticed how his fingers moved in a small circle on her back. Or how he had leaned closer to her just to smell her hair beneath the red beanie she's wearing.

By the time the match ended, the Gryffidor had won and once again became the title's champion. Ginny Weasley was the star of Gryffidor, with her incredible skills as both Seeker and Chaser.

After the winning ceremony, Claire had asked Lucius if it was possible for them to go to the pitch and meet up with Ginny and the others.

Lucius was reluctant to going, of course. Him being on the losing team and his loyalty and faithfulness to Slyterin had caused him to say no to her. Which, thank Merlin, Claire didn't mind at all. She could always said her congrats to Ginny later.

* * *

 **When** it was time for dinner, as the unlikely pair walked side by side heading to wherever the Italian Restaurant Lucius had promised to bring her, there was one thing in Claire's mind the whole time they've been walking all the way to the seating table.

"I wonder what it feels like to be able to fly?"

Lucius stopped on his track of gazing the menu.

"Pardon me, Miss Claire?"

"What? Oh nothing. I was just wondering to myself aloud that's all." She gave him a polite smile.

Lucius put down the menu. "You said what it feels like to be able to fly, Miss Claire." He took her hands in his own. "Are you feeling hungry?"

Claire's eyes grew widened. Surely he's not serious! Very slowly, Claire shook her head.

That was all the answer he needed to hear.

Turning to speak with the waiter in Italian, Lucius grabbed her hand and out of the restaurant within seconds.

* * *

 **"Are** you sure it's safe, Lucius?"

"Yes, my dear. For the last time, it is practically safe. Moreover, don't you trust me?" Lucius asked, to which Claire nodded her head rapidly.

She trust him all right. She just didn't trust herself NOT to slip and then fell five hundreds feet above the ground!

Claire still couldn't believe that she was flying on a broomstick, holding onto Lucius' back for dear life as he moved swiftly into the clouds, and let the moon's light shimmered above them.

"Flying on a broomstick is like a Muggle version of driving a car," Lucius explained. "You need to be able to focus. However, unlike driving a car, you don't need to worry about having to crush to another here as not many Wizard or Witches choose to use broomsticks as their choice of transportation."

"I have no doubt about that!" Claire shouted. As scared of her at the moment, she was thrilled to be way up there in the endless diamond sky with unbelieveable sight and indescrible feeling she's felt at the moment.

It felt like a whole new world.

Lucius chuckled deeply. "Hang on tight. We're going to land."

Claire tightened her grip on his torso. She yelped as Lucius moved the broom downwards until it was few feet above the ground, before he made a quick, skillful maneuver to land on the ground.

Lucius helped his little minx get off the broom. Claire still felt like she was floating. Her cheeks were pinkish due to being hit by the cold air, her beanie was slightly out of the place with a few dried leaves got stuck on it, her eyes were glowing brighteningly.

To Lucius, she looked absolutely adorable.

She looked up at him with the same glow in her eyes and smiled beamily at him. It made his heart beat slightly faster than it already was.

Offering his hand for her to take, they both began making their way back home.

* * *

 **THE** couple apparated back home at 10 o'clock sharp. They took their time by strolling down the empty park, hand on hand. Claire found that for the first time, she didn't mind having her hand held by Lucius. She was too much in a good mood after all.

Who would have thought her "second" date with Lucius Malfoy would be so much fun? Who would have thought Lucius Malfoy even knows how to have fun? She certainly didn't.

They finally reached at the front porch of the apartment.

Claire turned, smiling at Lucius. "Thank you for today. It was a lot of fun. I honestly didn't expect it at all!"

"I'll take it this date is more than just a "tolerable" date, unlike the last one?"

Claire chuckled. It amused to see how he could still remember what she'd said to him on the night of their first "date". That her first impression of their so called date was tolerable than unexpected.

Suddenly, as if she just realised that she had just spent the entire day with the least man she'd thought of being with after that incident, and how their hands still entangled with each other, shyness slowly making it's way from her neck to her cheeks.

Claire avoided looking into his beautiful grey eyes.

"I had a fun time as well." Lucius' voiced softly. He brushed the strings of her bangs to the side.

Claire looked up and instantly found herself lost for the very first time in his grey orbs.

It was like she was seeing him for the first time as a man, instead of her friend, housemate and even a Malfoy. She was seeing him as the man that he was.

For the first time,Claire felt _something_ \- a magnetic attraction - toward Lucius Malfoy. It scared her but at the same time it intrigued her endlessly.

Would she be bold enough? Would she be daring enough to do something about it? Would he allows her to do it?

Claire decided to test the water. Slowly, her hands reached out to his face. Lucius didn't move when her fingers touched his strong jaws. He simply watched her.

When she began to grow comfortable and confidence in what she was doing; touching his cheeks with her fingers, teasing him, Claire let a small smile.

Slowly, her hands moved from his cheeks to his smoothy blonde locks, and finally to the back of his head.

Claire moved closer to him,while pushing his head down to meet her halfway.

 _Peck_. She gave him a peck on his left cheek.

Lucius shut his eyes. Savouring her lips on his skin. He felt her backed away, before once again he felt her pushed his head down, and landed another peck on his right cheek.

Lucius inhaled deeply, eyes still closed. Again, he felt her backed away. He heard her took a deep breath before she brought his head down once again and-

Their lips met in a slow soft kiss.

Claire wrapped her arms around his neck as their kiss turned more passionate. All the while, Lucius kept his hands off her and to his side.

He was giving her a total control of the situation, something that he'd never done before in the past. His left hand only touched briefly of her arms, but still, he kept his hands off her, fearing once he did, it would be extremely hard for him to let her go.

Claire could feel his heart beating fast. Or was it hers? She knew the clouds were covering the moon even with her eyes closed.

How long had they been kissing? She should pulled away, but the more the thoughts of pulling away from him, the more she wanted to kiss him.

 _God, I'm so confused.. Lucius was kissing me so tenderly. It felt so much different than that time.._

Pulling away only when they both needed air to breath, Claire's face was beetroot red. She was breathing hard, trying to catch up with her lack of oxygen. Lucius was breathing hard too, but his was more controllig than hers.

He pulled her into his strong arms and simply held onto her, like an irreplaceable prized treasure.

"Claire.." He looked at her, eyes filled with so much love just for her. He pulled her even closer to him.

For the first time, Lucius Malfoy finally knows what Heaven tasted like.


	14. Chapter 14

**Shoutouts to:**

MissesE: Yeay! Thank you for the wonderful review! More LuciusxClaire moment in this chapter. Enjoy! ;)

 **Chapter 14 Fortune and Lovers**

 **F** RIDAY came in very quickly that same week. Claire Rollins hadn't been in her right mind since she had initially kissed one Lucius Malfoy on that Tuesday night.

It hadn't been an innocent simple peck on the lips either. Oh no. She had to feel dominate - dominated him, and he had allowed her to.

Ever since then, Claire had been thinking about it constantly and no matter what she did, she couldn't get it off her bloody mind.

She had enjoyed kissing him and it was driving her crazy!

What drove her to do such thing, she still wandered up until now.

After they had kissed and embraced, Lucius, being the gentleman that he was, had wished her a good night rest before he'd apparated back to his Manor.

Claire hadn't seen the man since then. Not that she wanted to, at the moment.

From what she had heard from Severus, both the Malfoys had been darn busy settling an important business deal that had gone wrong. Even Severus himself had been asked to help out at times.

Speaking of the black haired man, Claire was thankful that he had gone to bed early that Tuesday day. For some reason, she had a feeling that he had a hell of the day on that day; the half empty bottle of Firewhiskey had told her so.

Should Severus knew that she had went out with Lucius of all the people, after he had countlessly warned her not to. No doubt Claire would be in trouble with the ex-Potion Master. As much as she loved Severus and knew how much he adored her, Claire would not willing to risk of being hex by the drunken and tempered man.

She had however, told him the whole truth the very next morning while they had their breakfast.

Poor Severus had burnt his tongue by the hot coffee when she had told him that she had been the one who initialled the kiss first and that Lucius had been a gentleman enough not to touch her.

Severus' only words were:

" _As a friend to another dear friend, I'm advising you to be careful. Men like Lucius, they will do whatever it takes to get the woman for as long as the chase is interesting enough for them to run after. I'm not talking ills behind Lucius' back, but this is the ugly truth about him; he will be extremely loyal to you and will means it when he said he loves you. However, he can still be easily distracted should there be another woman who is interesting enough to capture his attention. That applies to all men, mind you."_

Claire had taken his advise to heart, and told herself to not let her feelings toward Lucius got to her head, at least not too much.

She didn't need another Caleb in her life.

As Claire pondered on these thoughts while waiting for customers to come at Thomas' Deli, all the sudden, she heard the sound of camera's snapping closed to her. Turning to her left, she was surprised to see an unknown man from few distances away, was taking pictures of her!

Realizing he'd been caught, the man began to run full speed away from her.

"Hey wait!" Claire chase after the man, leaving her post and a shocked looking colleague behind.

"Wait! Dammit, you! Wait up!" She chase the man through the busy street of London, before she followed him to a dark and narrowed corridors when she finally stopped. The man she'd been chasing had disappeared! He had literally vanished into a thin air.

Realised how far off she'd went what had just happened, Claire looked at her surroundings. Claire was extremely shocked to find herself standing in the middle of a sitting room, inside of an old building. Before she could make a run out of the building, a sultry male's voice greeted her.

"You've come. Finally, child."

Claire instantly on her guards. "Who goes there?"

Her eyes searched for any sort of movements before they finally landed on a tall manly figure standing with his back against the wall, near the staircase. The man was dotted in a formal wizard robe she had seen many times in the Wizarding world. What caught her attention was the top hat he wore on his head and the tarot cards in his hands.

For a moment, the man reminded her of Willy Wonka based from his attires.

For as long as she'd been in the Wizarding World, Claire had never seen any of them wore any hats let alone, top hats. Even Lucius didn't wear it, and he's a Malfoy.

Decided to be wary of the hat, Claire tried breathe in and out deeply and remained focus of the situation.

"Were you the one who'd taken pictures of me?" Claire asked, carefully.

"Perhaps."

"What do you want, _Wizard?"_ She decided to get straight to the point.

The Wizard grinned at the title she'd given him. He straightened his back, and then he bowed and scraped at her.

"Ah, so a young Muggle who knows the existence of the Wizarding World! I'm impressed. It seems my efforts haven't gone to waste after all."

"What do you _want_ , Wizard?" Claire asked again, with a demanding tone this time. The longer she stayed here, the harder Claire found herself unable to control the terrifying feeling and the warning siren in her head telling her to stay away from the dangerous man.

As if sensing her turmoil, the Wizard's grin grew widened.

"At the moment, none from you, my dear. However," He threw three tarot cards at her direction. The cards stopped before her.

 _The Emperor, The Fool and The Moon._

"Ah, The Emperor; he is the Masculine Principle, the Animus and the Patriarch. He represents power and authority, and his stern attitude is quite a departure from the sensual beauty of the Empress. The Emperor is a powerful leader who demands authority and dominance. He is most comfortable in a leadership role where he can command and direct others. He has established a solid family line and is often seen as the patriarch of a wide network of family members. And last but not least, the Emperor brings security and comfort to those around him."

The Wizard said without even looking at the cards floating in front of her.

"The Fool card is a card of potential, new beginnings and innocence. It is all about new experiences, personal growth, development and adventure. The Fool Tarot card encourages one to take a 'leap of faith' and to trust in the Universe. It may also represent a choice to be made—one of vital importance. However, there are always many different options available and the choice must be made wisely."

He pointed a finger at the last card.

"Finally, we have the Moon card. The Moon is the card of intuition, dreams and the unconscious. It often represents one's 'shadow' self, and also a card of illusion and deception, and therefore, it is often suggests a time when something is not as it appears to be."

The Wizard looked at Claire with a knowing glint in his eyes.

"These are not just any Muggle's tarot cards, Miss Rollins. They represent your feelings, the past,present and future of someone's life - of your life, what you are going through at the moment."

"What are you telling me these? What the hell do you want from me?"

"Like I said, none for now. Call it as a way to introduce myself." The Wizard smiled and did a short bow at her.

With a snap of his finger, the tarot cards vanished in front of her and Claire no longer found herself in the sitting room of an abandoned building, but at the corridors where she had lose the man earlier.

Claire didn't know how long she sat there against the bricked walls when her knees had finally given up on her. Her hands trembled. So as her whole body shivered.

That mysterious wizard was a dangerous man. How dangerous he was, she couldn't figure it out yet.

Finally after some moment, Claire was able to get up and got back on her two feet. Instead of returning to work, she headed straight to the city, with a hope of meeting with a man who knew magic better than she was.

 **L** UCIUS had been in a great positive mood despite the chaos that was going on in his company. Just recently, he'd received a feedback by his secretary from one of his staff that someone had been trying to hack into his company's business and erased all of the significant data they've had and saved.

While the his secretary had expected the great Malfoy to explode in anger and scolded them for not doing their jobs properly, she had been in great shock when the no-nonsense Malfoy had simply told her to tell the computer technicians to do whatever they could to put off the problems before she was excused.

Lina Walker, Lucius Malfoy's personal Assistant, put down the phone on her deskafter relaying the message to the person in charge. She sighed loudly, running sharp red painted fingernails through her blonde hair.

She had been on cracking her head out just what had caused the Director to be such in a good morning these couple of days. On Wednesday, he had come with a big smile on his handsomely face. At first, Lina had thought that smile had been just for her. That she had finally be able to capture his attention all these years.

At last her hope had scattered when Lucius had gave the same smile to everyone he met. The same thing happened on Thursday as well. Except on that day, he had treated everyone a nice meal for lunch by making a phone call from his favourite Italian Restaurant.

That was when Lina knew something else must have made him so darn happy! The woman swore she won't rest until she found out just what, or better yet, who was responsible for this.

The elevator made a ting sound and someone stepped out from it.

Lina glanced side way at the person, a female before rolling her eyes.

Great, another one of his tramps. Turning around to face with the woman, Lina was just about to tell her off when the Director's door opened.

"Miss Claire?" Lucius' smooth voice called out to her.

That was when she saw it, _that smile._

Lina looked at Lucius then to the plain young woman he was talking to and the smile he was giving her.

She's the caused for it! _The little bitch_!

"Lina, do you heard what I'd just said?"

Lina snapped from her thought. "Of course, Mr. Malfoy."

"Good. Come inside, Miss Claire." Lucius ushered her in before he shut the door.

Once the door was closed, only then Lina realised, what was she supposed to do? Oh right. Cancel all his upcoming meetings.

Absent-mindedly, she began to make the calls.

 **Cl** aire entered his office, feeling less shaken than she had been before. Nothing had changed much since the last time she'd been to his office. Claire closed her eyes, took a deep breath and exhaled.

When she reopened and blinked her eyes a couple of times, she met with a pair of concerned grey eyes, looking straight at her.

"Lucius."

"Claire." Lucius reached one hand and pushed few strings of her hair behind.

"I need to tell you something. Something had happened to me just now."

Lucius nodded. Taking her hand, he led her to his desk and helped her be seated on the available seat. Instead of returning to his seat, Lucius sat beside her, still holding her hands.

"What is it, love?"

Claire sighed and began to tell him everything.

 **B** y the time she finished telling him what had happened, Lucius' face was hardened by the new information. He gently released her hands, stood up, and returned to his seat.

"This is a serious matter." He spoke quietly after a while. "I can see why you looked so pale and shakened up earlier today."

"I'm feeling bit better now. But yes, I'm terrified of him - whotever he was."

"And did the wizard said anything about himself? Anything at all that might helps us knows who he was?"

"No but he seems to have great interest in Tarot cards. And he wore a funny top hat. Personally I think he looks a lot like Willy Wonka himself."

"Willy Wonka? From the book?"

It was Claire's turns to be in shocked. "You _knew_ about Willy Wonka?"

"Of course. He had been perhaps the greatest and very rare True Seer in the Wizarding World. He'd written a lot of books about the future of the Wizarding World. His rank in the society had been almost the same as Albus Dumberdore."

"Wait! My version of Willy Wonka is a man who owns a chocolate factory. He's a character in a children's book!"

"Is that so?" Lucius said thoughtfully. Muggles often have their ways to twist the truth about anything Magical to fit in their world.

Willy Wonka had been a great Seer who used unlikely tools for his readings. At first, he had used numbers to predict the future. Then, crystal ball and finally, rumour had it that he used cards for prediction.

While the man had known for his eccentric mind, no one could ever doubt he had been the greatest seer of all time.

Clearing his throat, Lucius looked back at the young woman before him.

"I'm afraid, Miss Claire, that until we figure out just who the Wizard is and what does he wants with you, I can't let you be out of sight. Therefore, I have to ask that you stay at the manor again for a while."

"But what about my jobs? I mean I'd just came back from unpaid 2 months leaves! I can't just-"

"The most important thing youmust know about us Wizards, Miss Claire, is that we do no simply show ourselves or magic to Muggles without any good reasons. A dangerous Wizard like that came onto you knowing fully well who you are can't be a good sign."

Claire took in the information to consideration. What he'd said were true, of course. But still, she could lose her jobs if she keeps up like this.

"I could lose my jobs."

"No, you won't." Lucius took her hands. "You can work with me. Knowing what a hardworking you are, and that you won't simply satisfied if I just simply gave you the money, here's my offer to you then."

Claire had to blink for several times before she could speak.

"You want me to work for you? As what?"

"My In-Home Assistant for Project DEATH. You've been doing a good job in terms of researching the Death-Eaters whereabouts. It'll be a great loss to lose someone like you." There was mischiveous glint in his eyes.

Claire looked at their fingers now entangled.

Becoming his In-Home Assistant? While the payment was more than enough to support her for life, she couldn't help but to think she was taking advantage of the situation.

"Miss Claire?" Lucius' voice broke her deep thoughts.

Claire shook her head. "I'll have to think about it. I mean I can still assist you with doing the files for DEATH and all, but I need some time to think about working full time.. Don't get me wrong, Lucius. I'm grateful that you are giving me the chance, but it's a big decision for me and I don't want to take advantage of the situation."

"I understand." Lucius nodded. He knew his little minx was a strong headed one and had more pride than any of the witches he'd been with. She won't be easily tempted just for the sake of money no matter how desperate she was.

Claire looked away shyly from him.

"Also, there is something else that I wanted to talk with you about.. _Us_. I want to talk about us."

Lucius smiled widely. He'd been waiting patiently for her to address the question.

"What would you like to talk about?"

Claire stared hard at their entangled hands.

"Since we're both adults here, I'll get straight to the point then." She took a deep breath. "I didn't regret any of it.. Us kissed the other night, that is. I've kissed plenty of frogs before, and I'm sure you have your amount of share too. But on that night, maybe it was the happiness that filled in me that made it so, _so_ special.. You made it special, Lucius. Kissing you felt like out of this world for me.. Not even Caleb, hell, Caleb couldn't even hold the torch for you even if he'd tried his hardest. Kissing you was magical. And I.. Well I.. I've found myself enjoyed every moment of it."

She looked at him in the eyes. Her face must be burning red by now but she didn't care. Claire bit her lips, trying so hard to fight off the blush and get the right words out of her chest.

"I've found myself enjoyed kissing you, Lucius... So very much."

Lucius grinned widely. This was not what he had in mind when she said they needed to 'talk'. He'd expected hesitation and uncertaincy on her side, or worse regret that she had kissed an old toad on that magical night. But to hear her said those words repeatively. He couldn't help but to grin.

Getting out from his seat, Lucius made a short trip and sat on an empty chair next to her. He lifted her hand to his lips for a kiss before putting it on his chest.

He let her continued with her words.

"I'm not ashamed to be around you, Lucius. I am of legal age to chose with whomever I want to be with. However, I do ask that you give me some time to be sure of my feelings. I know now that I love to kiss you, but I am still uncertain of how deeply my feelings go toward you and I refuse to lead you on in case my feeling toward you is nothing more than just an infruation. I apologise."

She looked at him with a slight fear in her eyes. Fearing he would not accept her reasoning. After all, he had confessed to her before that he's in love with her.

When all she could hear was his deep chuckles, Claire was stunned by it, and she looked very confuse.

"My dear, you have nothing to apologise about. I knew how hard it must have for you, especially when you have other fishes waiting to catch in the sea. But the fact that you have chosen to say those words meant a lot to me. You have no idea how happy you made me, Claire. So happy that if I were to die right here and now, I'll die happily knowing at you have felt something for me. Even if it was just a little bits."

Claire smiled warmly a him. She wrapped her arms around his neck while he held onto her.

"You've made me happy, Lucius. It's strange and so very sudden. But I haven't been so alive before I met you or Severus. Before everything that I have except for my dignity and pride,being taken away from me."

Their faces were just few inches apart. Their noses barely brushed each other.

Claire exhaled very softly. Looking into his beautiful grey eyes, her fingers tangled in his soft blonde locks, she pulled his head down to met with her lips in a very slowly and tender movement.

They kissed softly at first and grew passionately as time passed by. By the time the two of them were desperately in need of air, both of their faces were in deep shades of red. Yet, they both smiled at each other, with their hands still tangled.

This time around, Lucius took the initial. He leaned forward, with one hand at her back of her head, and once again captured her lips in a tender kiss.


	15. Chapter 15

**shoutouts to:**

 **Notwritten:** Thank you for your kind review doll! this is for you ;) Keep smiling.

 **MissesE:** Aww thank you! The Willy Wonka just came to mind lol XD don't worry you'll get to know more about him in this chapter. hope you like it! ;)

 **Chapter 15** **:Trouble in Paradise**

 **C** LAIRE Rollins was eating her breakfast, a simple porridge, alone, in big dining room at the Malfoy's manor.

A full week had passed since she'd moved into the manor again.

Claire had, to her great dismay and under Severus' advice, quit her two jobs a day after her meeting with Lucius and her encountered with the dangerous mysterious Wizard, to ensure that her own safety and the safety of others, will not be jeopardised by the hands of the said Wizard.

Her bosses, friends and colleagues hadn't been too happy to hear about her sudden resignation. But they'd understood nevertheless. Her best friend, Marina, had been most concerned when Claire had dropped the bomb on her before telling everyone else.

Marina kept questioning her whether the debts that she was in was a bit too much for her to handle, and she'd been generously enough to lend her some money despite knowing how proud and stubborn her best friend could be. Or that did Claire had family problems with her so called uncles.

When Claire had told her those weren't her problems and that she felt the needs to change her working environment, Marina had been reluctant to believe. But for the both of their sake, she accepted her reason.

Before letting Claire to run off to inform the others, Marina sneakily with a wide grin, had told her she was happy to know Claire finally found someone after Caleb's 'passing', a year ago. Claire denied it, of course. She'd asked the other woman what had made her thought that she has a new man in her life now?

Wordlessly, Marina pulled the red and green rose patterned Pashmina scarf Claire had wrapped around her neck and pointed out the obvious _love_ _-_ _bite_ on her left neck.

"If this does not proof that you have a secret man, knowing the kind of girl that you are, then, I dunno what else to say." Marina had rose one perfectly eyebrow at her. She dared Claire to deny the obvious evidence.

Claire had been in panicked at being discovered! Her face's flushed as she had quickly wrapped the scarf back without any further explanation. Silently, she had cursed Lucius for leaving behind mark at such an obvious place! Claire had then wandered if that was the reason why Severus had looked at her rather oddly in the morning during breakfast earlier.

Speaking on the said man, Severus himself had been in shock when he learnt about the 'Tarot-card Wizard', as Claire kindly put it, upon his return from his teaching job that friday evening, two weeks ago.

After she had told him of Lucius' proposal that she should be staying at the manor until things have settled down, to her surprise, Severus Snape hadn't immediately agreed to the proposal like he would have done in a heart beat before. While Snape had agreed to the idea, he couldn't help but to feel more concerned about her own feelings while she was staying there － at the memories of the event that had _almost_ ruined her.

Claire herself had admitted that thought she was scared to move in back there, she decided she wasn't going to let the unpleasant event to rule her life forever. The fact that both Lucius and herself had finally admitted and accepted their growing feelings toward each other had helped her a lot with the situation.

Claire had told the Malfoy Patriarch after their passionate kiss in his office a couple of weeks ago, she would like for them to take their time to get know each other better before they took that big step into their relationship, to which he had agreed. Lucius had stated himself that compare to Severus, he knew so little about her life in the past months they've been living together. That he too would like the chance to get to know her.

Claire had been happy, of course. She had also warned him that though they are together, there were rules that he needed to follow; such as, not rushing them into the act of intimacy. Claire had boldly stated that she was proud to still be a virgin, knowing most women of her group age had already lose theirs. She had told him she would hate him forever and gladly fight him tooth and nail should Lucius ever pressure her on it, regardless.

Claire was determined to save herself until her wedding night arrive. Not even a Malfoy could tempt her into doing such as losing her virginity for pleasure's sake.

Lucius hadn't got anything to say about that except that he might need to find another _proper_ way to relief himself and full-fill his deep desire toward the young Muggle; such as leaving love bites on her neck.

Claire scooped the last spoon of porridge and put it into her mouth. Once she was done with her meal, Claire put the bowl away, finished her drink, and then she headed to the library to do some reading and researching.

* * *

 **T** he Malfoy manor was silence as the dead without the presence of it's owner. On the day Claire had moved in, Lucius received a distressful call from Draco stating there was a huge problem in Muggle Paris and that he needed Lucius to be there ASAP.

At first, Lucius hadn't wanted to go, because it would be rude to leave when his little minx had just arrived. Besides, he wanted to see just how well Draco could handle the situation.

Claire had insisted him to go nevertheless, with a promise that she would still be here at the manor to greet him back home with a smile. The unusual couple shared a long farewell kiss before Lucius had to rush to the Muggle airport via the Portkey to catch a plane.

Now that she was all alone, Severus would check on her from time to time and by all means necessarily by day. When night arrived, he would join her for dinner at the manor and would leave once she was ready to sleep.

Claire would not be left alone by herself in the manor. Someone other than Mimi, have to stay with her until she settled down and ready to sleep at night. Those were strict orders from Severus to her while Lucius was away a week.

Claire hadn't been too happy with the arrangement, though she understood the older man's concerned about her safety and her trauma of living in the manor. Still, she felt like a prisoner rather than a guest of the manor!

While Claire was reading on a book about the Wizarding World, she discovered an interesting topic that made her raised an eyebrow.

' _Willy Wonka - 'A mad Man or a Brilliant Seer?'._

"How interesting." Claire commented as she flipped on the pages.

 _Willy Wonka was born into a Pure-Blood family, whose each generation had been blessed with a powerful Seer. Despite not possessed the 'Inner-Eye' like the Trelawneys, the Wonka was blessed by something somewhat similar to it_ _－_ _'_ _Time-Stopper'_ _－_ _the ability to literally stopped the movement of time and space._

 _With the combination of their accurate prediction and the Time-Stopper, the Wonka was the only pure-blood family feared by even the Dark Lord himself. The Wonka, known to be very private about their personal lives and had remained on Neutral ground in politics for generations. They would only read necessarily predictions and would dismissed anyone who tried to take advantage of their gift. Willy Wonka however, was different from the rest of his family. While his family seek on Neutral grounds, Willy Wonka wanted to change the way of the world. He longed for freedom, peace and love amongst the people, including the Muggles._

Claire read the pages in fascinatingly. Who knew there was more of Willy Wonka in the Wizarding World than just a man who owned a chocolate factory?

As she flipped and read the pages, all the sudden, Claire heard the sound of a loud chiming noise reverberate throughout the manor. Followed by a minor shake around the manor.

Claire put down the book and stared at the door, her eyes widened. A single loud pop filled in the library before Mimi appeared, looking a bit distressed.

"Come quickly, Mistress! Mistress isn't expecting a visitor from anyone. Mimi is ordered by Master to keep Mistress safe should anything bad happen."

Taking her hand, The House-Elf yanked the young Muggle out from her seat and apparate from there.

* * *

 **A** moment later, Claire found herself back in her own chamber, with Mimi beside her. The House-Elf handed her a metal baseball bat which had been cast with minor Dark Magic by both Severus and Lucius.

Mimi then urged her to hide under the bed.

"Don't make a noise, Mistress. If Mimi does not come back in ten minutes, Mistress MUST contact Mister Snape and leave at once!"

"Got it! Be careful, Mimi!"

The House-Elf apparate quickly.

Claire waited patiently under her bed, holding the metal bat closer to her and another hand was holding her phone. She had text Severus the situation and only needed to send to him. Her eyes observed the surrounding wildly, and her breathing starting to hitch.

Claire was reminded instantly the night when Lucius had almost violated her, it was the same situation as she was now. Quickly removing the memories from her thoughts, Claire decided to focus on the situation at hands. She looked at the digital clock on her phone: ten minutes had passed.

She pressed the sent button and waited for Severus to come. While praying desperately nothing bad happened downstairs and that Mimi was okay.

Just then, she heard it.

Footsteps climbing up the staircases and something whistling a tune.

Claire held on her breath and shut her eyes. She prayed even harder for Severus to come quickly.

The footsteps and the whistling grew louder as the person getting closer to her room. Claire heard the door being opened and she resisted the urge to yelp.

A pair of black shining _male_ sized shoes at the entrance of her chamber was all that she could see from her view under the bed.

Claire held onto her iron bat even tightened. Even the time has come for which she would need to fight whoever the person was, she will without any hesitations. Even if it means killing the person.

The person stepped into the chamber and closed the door. He continuously to whistle an unknown tune as he wandered around the room, occasionally, he would checked out some stuff on her table, such as her bottle of perfume and her small bottle of facial moisturiser.

Sweat began to gathered on her forehead. Just then, she heard it; that same voice she'd heard back at the old building..

"I know where you are, My dear. There's no use hiding from me." The Tarot Wizard spoke calmly.

Claire kept quiet. Panicked began to fill within her but she forced to fight it. Where the hell is Severus? What's taking him so long to-

"I also know that you've summoned your friend to come and rescue you through the small Muggle gadget you're holding in your left hand. However, I assure you he won't be coming here any time soon. Want to know why? Have a look at your gadget!"

Claire looked down on her phone. This time, she let out a small gasp when her messaged had a 'failed to sent' notification on the screen. She pressed the retry button over and over again but nothing happened.

"It's no use, dear. Honestly, you're just wasting your time. Speaking of 'time', how ironic is this; the two of us are the only ones who are able to move around while in the influence of the Time-Stopper?"

Claire could tell the man was grinning.

The main question that ran through her head now was should she go out and deal with him face to face now that he knew where she was, or should she kept hiding?

Before Claire could find the answer, she felt the bed was floating above her. Widened eyes, she stared at the familiar face of the Wizard, pointed his wand at the floating bed while smiling at her.

"There you are!"

* * *

 **C** laire stood up abruptly. No point of hiding at this stage. She slowly and very cautiously moved away to the side before the said Wizard dropped the bed down to the floor.

With the metal bat pointed at him, Claire said in a demanding tone, "What have you come here for?"

The Wizard shrugged. "I just felt like it. Just felt like seeing you, my dear."

"Quit it! Stop with affectionate terms! I don't want to see you nor do I want to be anywhere near you for that matter!"

The Wizard shook his head and dramatically fell back before he put one hand on his chest. "You wound me, Ma'am, with your words."

Claire wouldn't have any of it. "Who are you and what the hell do you want with _me?_ "

The Wizard grinned. "A little reading, if you will."

"Wha-" because she could say anything else, he threw two tarot cards at her direction.

 _High Priestess and Wheel of Fortune_ cards stood up before her, like before.

" _Ah._ Interesting reading indeed." The Wizard exclaimed positively. "High Priestess, represents a link to the subconscious mind, which cannot be accessed through the everyday world but only through dreams and symbols. One must listen to one's inner voice as common Knowledge on how to fix things will not come through logic or intellect but through one's intuition."

He flipped another card before her, revealed the Wheel of Fortune.

"The Wheel of Fortune refers to the fact that things tend to go in cycles. There are good times and there are bad times. The lesson of the Wheel of Fortune is that one must accept that there are always ups and downs in life." He said nothing more and vanished the cards.

Claire looked at him rather strangely but kept her defence and guards up. "While I'm thrilled that you came all the way here just to give me a tarot reading, I suggest you leave and never bother me again!"

Instead of giving her a smirk or grin that he had on hi face, the Wizard looked at her with unreadable expression, between sadness and agony. He held up a card in his left hand before throwing it at her direction.

Claire looked at the card with her mouth agape in incredulity.

"The last card. _Death."_ He spoke softly, almost whispering. He looked into her eyes and said with the most difficult tone he could mustered. "You aren't supposed to live. You shouldn't have survived that day."

"Get away from me." Claire backed away as the Wizard approached her.

"You shouldn't been alive. He'd used _Crucio_ on you. You shouldn't be alive yet here you are, still breathing. Still standing. How extraordinary."

"I'm warning you. Get the hell out of here! GET OUT!" Claire shouted.

The Wizard smiled to himself. "This proves my theory was right all along. No matter how accurate my predictions of the future, there are some things that we beyond our control and whatnot. And some things, that thought it is predicted to happen badly, we are still _able_ to control _._ "

He reached out his hand to her and Claire had it. She swung the bat at him.

The Wizard deflected bat easily of course. He had seen it coming. Even when an electrical bolt mixed with fireball came out from the bat, with a quick swing of his wand, he deflected it easily as well.

"Miss Rollins. If you would just calm yourself down and hear me out, I can easily explain to you what's going on."

"Give me one very good reason why should I trust someone like you?"

This time, the Wizard smiled gleefully. "You're in love with one Lucius Malfoy. Even if your head is still trying to deny it and reluctantly wanted to accept the fact, the heart can't be fooled what the head wants."

Claire face turned bright red. She tightened her held on the bat. "What _bullshit_ are you talking about? That's hardly a good reason of 'why I should trust someone like you' in the first place!"

"Ahh, but you're not denying it either." He smirk grew widened. "Miss Claire, may I call you Claire?"

"No!"

"Claire, you're a such sweetheart. From the moment I'd laid my eyes on you, I knew you are the most suitable person to change the way of the Wizarding world, by filling it with your big heart."

"Change it? Why on Earth do I want to change the way of the Wizarding world when it has nothing to do with me whatsoever!"

At this, the Wizard raised his finger. "That's when you're wrong, my dear. Though you are only a Muggle, however,I fear to say that you are not an ordinary one as you'd like to think. You are special, Claire. The fact that you encountered two highly influenced Wizards from the Wizarding World said it all. And the fact that you," He flipped the tarot cards in his hands. "Are able to see these tarot cards which no Muggle could, says it all."

"What do you want with me?" Claire asked for the last time.

"A little bit of your time would sufficient. But we can't talk here. It's too dangerous to be caught." Raising his wand, he cast a spell at Claire, causing her to black out before he took her in his arms nd apparate from the scene.

A moment after the wizard had fled, Claire's chamber door broke down by none other than Severus Snape.

"CLAIRE!" His eyes wandered all around the chamber. When he found there was no signs of her whatsoever, he swore aloud and pitched the bridge of his nose.

He was merely a few seconds too late.

* * *

 **SEVERUS** Snape had just gotten back home after a long tiring hard day dealing with the insufferable brats from his new school when he'd sensed something went wrong - Claire's Iron bat that was hanging in the sitting room had gone missing.

Only one person had the permission to apparate back and forth from here and the Malfoy's manor; the House-Elf.

It peeked his curiosity at first as why would the House-Elf be stealing the bat in the first place, until he'd come to his senses and realised something bad was going on at the manor.

Without even changing his attire, Severus apparated to the Malfoy's manor.

When Severus had arrived, to his great horror, there was Dark Mark floating on Lucius' manor. He'd rushed to the door, all the while, he prayed so desperately nothing bad was happening to Miss Rollins. He couldn't bear to lose another important friend after Lily.

When he reached to the staircase, he heard Claire shouted from her room; telling whoever the person was to get out. Severus fastened his speed and just as he about to reach to the door, he felt a wave of magic surrounded him.

Time stopped.

By the time Severus was able to move again, with a wave of his wand he broke down the door and rushed in.

 _"CLAIRE!"_

The place was empty. Claire was gone.

It didn't look like a case of kidnapping either as there was no traces of magic left behind.

Cursed his luck, Severus knew he had plenty of calls to make and people to explain. Shacklebolt wasn't going to be thrilled when he heard about this.

But first things first, Severus needed to an important call to Lucius and tell him the news.


	16. Chapter 16

**Shoutout to:**

 **MissesE:** That was one crazy dream you got there lol XD thanks for dreaming anyway! Hope you like this chapter~~

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hello preps! I am so so so sorry for the delay of this chapter! No, I hadn't mean to tease you *sweat* A lot of things had happened these few days; including me just turned 24 the last saturday! Yeah! So overall, I hope everyone's good and healthy. :)**

 **In the memories of those who have died in the latest Paris attack and also to the rest of the world in need so much love and prayers, let us spend a minute of prayer. Amin.**

 **#Prayfortheworld**

 **Chapter 16: Forgotten Past**

 **"W** AKE up, Miss Claire. Claire? Wake up, child."

Claire was brought back to life by someone who had repeatedly called out her name - a soothing male voice was calling and telling her to wake up.

It wasn't Lucius nor was it Severus' voice either.

The voice kept calling her name until she finally managed to slowly opened her eyes and blinked rapidly for a few times.

Claire groaned as waves of migraine began assaulting her mind - as if someone had literally cracked her skull opened. Blinking her eyes again to adjust to her new found surroundings, Claire tried to move her hands - only to find it being tied by an invincible strings on her back.

"Shit." Now that her eyes were able to get a good look of her surroundings, Claire found herself on the ground of a rather spacious dark dungeon.

The only light invisible there came from the torches.

Claire tried to get up on her feet rather than lying on the ground, and leaned back against the concreted walls. She managed to do just that at least.

"Dungeon, huh? Not a good place to be in." Claire said to no one. Her eyes wandered around at the place.

"At least he didn't tie up my legs or put something in my mouth... Which means he trusts me enough to move round with my hands on the back, but not trust me enough to escape without using my hands.. So, my guess would be there's a secret hidden door somewhere here that I need to reach."

"Excellent observation, Miss Claire!" Answered a familiar giggling voice coming somewhere in the room.

Claire frowned deeply as she waited for the said man, her kidnapper to reveal himself - Willy Wonka.

Willy made no fuss when he approached her with a wide smile.

"I'm glad to see you finally awake, Claire. I was getting scared the sleeping draught I'd cast on you were too strong that you might not be able to wake up at all! That would be too bad if it happens, don't you think so? " He chuckled lightheartedly at his own words, much to Claire' dismay.

What kind of a person would laugh at someone's death like that?

 _'Then again, he's hardly a person but a damn Wizard. A mad damn Wizard.'_ Claire's mind argued.

Taking a deep breath, Claire tried to justify the situation in her head: she had been alone at the Mafoy's manor when Mimi suddenly shown up and apparated her to her room. Then, this crazy fella shown up,blabbering about something and then kidnapped her.

"You.." Before she could ask what he wanted with her in the first place, Claire remembered what the crazy Wizard had said to her before she blacked out.

 _"A little bit of your time will sufficient."_

Fine. If all he wants was just to talk, then she would listen. Perhaps, she could put two and two together and figured something out and then get the hell out of here.

"You'd told me you wanted to talk. Now talk, Wizard." Claire hissed.

Willy Wonka jumped excitedly while clapping his hands. His smile grew widened.

"You're a fierce lass, aren't you? Fierce but reasonable. Which is what I like the most about you. I mean I haven't met any lass who has a temper like-"

"OUT WITH IT!" Claire roared. "Just because I'm unable to strangle you, doesn't means I can't kick the smug on your face! Either get to the point, Wizard, OR release me!"

Willy grinned, with both arms crossed on his chest. Taking a long deep breath, he began.

"I'm sure you know who I am by now, Miss Claire. Nevertheless, allow me to formally reintroduce myself. My name is Willy Wonka, of the Wonka Family. My family, as you'd also knew from reading the book earlier, is Pureblood whose each generation had been blessed with a powerful Seer. Despite not possessed the 'Inner-Eye', we are indeed blessed by something that is somewhat similar to the Trelawney's Inner-Eye－ we possessed the 'Time-Stopper'－the ability to literally stopped the movement of time and space."

Claire vaguely nodded her head. She remember reading about it in the book.

"Unlike the rest of my family who prefer to remain Neutral, I beg the differ. You see Miss Claire, it's not easy for one to become a Seer. And for someone like me who had witnessed countless times of never-ending conflicts that led to violence and eventually never-ending wars, the traumatic effects it had on me had made me became a pacifist, if you will. Something that none of the members of my family would be able to accept. In the end, I ended up being cast aside by them and the rest of the society who wouldn't even think twice about wanting to change the way things were. That's quite all right though. I'd made good fortunes by myself without having to relay on my family. Furthermore, I began to study not only the history of the Wizarding World, but also Muggle's history as well. I wanted to understand why our World is so - so... _backward_ compared to the Muggle's world. Is it because of the lack of magic? That they are able to create man-made magic sort of called 'technology?' I had been indeed curious about the Muggles and had since then, began my little investigation on them to fullfill my desire to know about the things that they have that we do not have."

Willy played with his cane, all the while he talking. Claire observed him carefully; his words, his body language - something was telling her that he was trying to built up the feelings befor he got straight to the point.

"Look, I can't beat you up like this, I've been tied up. So if you don't mind, just tell me straight what happened."

Willy stopped paying attention to his cane and now focused on her. There were something in his eyes; a glint of unknown feelings.

"...My curiousity of the Muggle's World had eventually led me to see the future of a little boy; a half-blood, whom, at such an early age; bore deep hatred toward Muggles and wizards with muggle relation for the rest of his life.. Tom Marvolo Riddle."

" **T** OM Marvolo Riddle."

Claire's blood froze as the words came out from his mouth.

Tom Riddle, also known as the most powerful Dark Lord that ceased to exist. She had heard plenty of tales about him from Severus and Lucius, and none of them were too pleaseant to share with.

Not saying a word, she let him continue.

"I received my visions two days before the New Year in 1926, about a birth of an infant and his dark army in the future. The boy would later known as the most dangerous wizard of all the times. Then, exactly twelve o'clock sharp, that vision came true; the little boy was born. I'd rushed to Minister office to warn the others about my vision. Back then, the then Minister, Perseus Parkinson, had been an ignorant fool and had been more concerned on passing a bill to make it illegal to marry a Muggle. I'd tried to warn him about Tom's existance, but he had rudely shushed me and even told me to go away."

Willy shook his head in pity.

"Foolish man he had been. It was no wonder he got sacked right after his time as the Minister ran out. Back to the story, When Cassandra Trelawney stated her prediction of how the young Tom would soon become the infamoud Dark Lord, only one man answered the call - Albus Dumbledore. He went to visit the young Tom at the Wool's Orphange in 1938 to inform him that he had been accepted into Hogwarts' School. Things had turned out to be interesting on both sides.. I'd asked Dumbledore how his meeting with the boy went. The late Wizard had said Tom was a brilliant lad at his age but with sadistic straits."

Claire listened patiently.

One topic she had always avoid from talking to Severus or Lucius was the Dark Lord himself. The Death-Eaters were a subject they were uncomfortable with, but the Dark Lord was a taboo subject.

Willy Wonka had a forlornly look when he continued with the story.

"I'd told Dumbledore about my visions and the fact that what Tom earned, no, wanted the most - love. Love is the only thing that could save him from himself and from the dar force that dwell inside him. Only love. Alas, even the Great Albus Dumbledore had thought the idea of love wouldn't do much good for someone like the young Tom Riddle..."

Claire gasped softly. Surely, he could have tried at the very least, nurtured the miserable lad with love?

"It was heartbreaking for me. Albus Dumbledore had been my one and only hope in order to change the mind of a child who has been corrupted by his surrounding. It left me so heartbroken that after Dumbledore had said that, I literally left the Wizarding World for a while. It became clear to me that the people in the Wizarding World care so little about love than they do for war! They feared Tom because of what had been predicted to him in the future. Instead of trying to at least try and change his way of thinking with kindness and love, they chose to go against him, making him the enemy that he already were - driving the demon out of him."

Willy looked up at her and briefly smiled.

"I went and stayed at the Muggle world for a while. I needed to get myself away from all those wizards and the Wizrding World. I stayed there for several years. Built a career and created a name for myself under my own name instead of using a fake Muggle name. I'd heard Albus tried to convince the young Tom that love is the most poweful than any kind of magic, but he merely just scoffed on it. "

Willy simply shrugged. "He should have tried telling him that when he was younger."

"Wait. Career? Don't tell me you'd actually OWNED a chocolate factory!?"

Willy smirked. With a wave of his hand, a chocolate bar with a big printed label of 'Willy Wonka' on it.

"Suprised, my dear? Well you shouldn't be! I've always love candy bars - especially Muggle's chocolates. Since I have enough fortunes, I'd asked myself one fine day, 'hey, what's stopping you to make you own candy'? And viola! It become so famous,someone had approached me asked to turn it into a children's book!"

Claire was getting dizzier by the information she just received.

Who knew Willy Wonka was actually exist? Here, in the same place with her!

Willy chuckled in excitement while clapping his hands before he stopped and cleared his throat. He then spoke with a less-then-cheerful voice.

"Ubfortunately, we are not here to talk about me. We are here talk about _you,_ Miss Claire."

"M-Me?"

Willy nodded. He walked in circle around her while keeping his distance. Her warning to him earlier were meaningless. Thus, he had been taken it lightly. However, he couldn't ignore the possibilities of her jumping on him and have his face kicked to the side..

After all, his prediction on her had been off lately.

"Yes you, Miss Claire. Speaking of which, how old were you in 1981, Claire?"

"Six. I was born in 1975." Claire made a quick calculation. "Why do you asked?"

Willy cast a forlorned look on her once again. A moment later, he summoned one of his tarot card and revealed the card to her: _Death_.

"Tell me, what do you remember on Halloween's Eve in 1981?"

"Why?" Claire narrowed her eyes at her. "What makes you think I would remember something that had happened years ago? And even if I do remember,why should I tell you?"

"So you do not remember what had happened to you on that night?" Willy stopped before her. "Tell me the truth, Claire."

Thick silence filled in the air between them.

After a moment passed, Claire heavily sighed.

"I went out for an early trick 'n treats around the neighbourhood because I had to go somewhere on that next day, Halloween. That's all that I'd remember."

"Do you remember how was your condition after you went for trick n treats?"

"What does that has anything to do with this anyway?" Willy gave her a pointed look, which Claire sighed once again.

"I don't remember.. Everything else was blurred that night. Though, now that I think about it, I remember feeling more tired than the usual."

Willy nodded. He proceed by sitting down on the cold floor and asked her to do the same as well.

Claire reluctantly sat down while keeping her guard up.

Damn him for tieing her arms at the back like this!

"I would like to use a Legilimency spell on you if you don't mind. Now, now Miss Claire, I assure you I am an honest and trustworthy man. I merely wanted for you to see the past that you have forgotten. And to find out why you were being targeted by the surviving Death-Eaters and also, this," He showed her the Death card.

"How could you had managed to survive from getting hit by the Killing Curse from the Dark Lord himself."

Claire stopped struggling at his last words.

She'd met with the Dark Lord before? But when did...

Suddenly she felt the time and space literally stopped and a voice said, " _Legilimens_."

* * *

 **W** HEN Claire reopened her eyes, she found herself back her old quiet neighbouring home, standing at the side of the road. It was the night of the Halloween's Eve, 30 October 1981.

"Nostalgic much, are we?" Claire turned around and saw Willy Wonka smiling briefly at her.

She narrowed her eyes. Now that her arms were free, she did the first thing that came to her mind; punch him.

"Owh!" Willy held on to his nose, hopefully not broken.

"That's for kidnapping me and used Legilimency spell on me without my permission!" She huffed and blew the few front strings of her bangs.

Willy got up to his feet, already healed his bleeding nose, he smiled at her.

"Well, might as well hit me here when you have the chance right?"

Claire didn't bother to answer.

"Now that we got that one covered, Miss Claire, let's focused on the actual task here, yes?" He pointed at a familiar one house on the further right where a little girl dressed as a Red Riding Hood walked out of the front door, waving at her mom who told her to be careful and do not to strangers.

"That's..." Claire whispered.

Willy nodded. "Come along then."

Claire mutely nodded and followed the little girl discreetly.

After a moment of following the young girl knocking from one door to another, Claire began to remember slowly what happened.

Her thought wer however cut by the sight of the little girl approaching a hooded man who was standing beside the road.

"Where's she going?" Claire hissed as she went nearer toward girl.

"Hey Mister, are you okay?" Little Claire asked the mysterious hooded man who seemed to be observing something or someone.

When she had asked him a question, the man turned to look at her.

Surprisingly, she didn't seem to be afraid of his look like most Muggles.

"That's a cool make up you're wearing, Mister." The girl smiled. "Who are you supposed to be?"

Claire gasped sharply when the man lifted his head and revealed himself. Beside her, Willy looked tense.

"Who am I? Perhaps you should be more aware of your surroundings, _little girl."_ Voldemort pointed his wand at her. "Didn't Mummy ever taught you not to talk to strangers?"

"No! run!" Claire shouted from the distance.

It was too late.

With one word, the Dark Lord had launched the Killing Curse on the helpless little girl and sent her off flying to the centre of the road, before he walked away and Apparated.

The quiet neighbouhood had soon busily with people coming out of their houses when someone had shouted a little girl had gotten hit by the car.

As the people approached the still and unconscioused little girl, a pair of hands carefully and gently lifted her up.

Young Willy Wonka looked at the little girl with sadness in his eyes. He had predicted this event; the kind and innocent little muggle whom he had met and befriended with when he first came to the Muggle world, had unfortunately died by the hands of the Dark Lord.

As the young Willy grieved for the death of his little friend, with his head down on her chest, all the sudden, he felt a tiny weak hearbeat coming from her.

Willy looked up at the little girl with tearful eyes grew widened. He checked for her pulse... There! It was there, albeit very weak but it was there nonetheless!

Decided to not waste any time, the young Wonka began to discreetly healed the little girl until a couple who claimed to be the girl's parents arrived to the scene and immediately, she was taken to the Muggle's General Hospital.

Meanwhile, Claire watched as the event unfolded with tears running down her cheeks and one hand covered her mouth.

Two things happened at once that had greatly shocked her:

One, was that the Dark Lord had mercilessly made an attempt to kill a child, her. And two, the moment when Voldermort had launched the Killing curse on the younger version of her, the little girl had been protected by a green barrier, unknown to even the Dark Lord himself.

Two silhouette figures, a man and a woman in green flame stood behind the little girl.

"You will not touch our daughter with your filthy hands, Veldormort!" Spoke the male in green flame.

"We will not let our sacrifices for our beloved daughter gone to waste! You may have killed us but we will never lett you take her!"

The green flames grew wildly as the Killing Curse hit the girl and sent her flying in the air, not befoe she landed on the hard road softly as she was being supported by the green flame.

"Live long, my child. Sweet Claire, Papa and Mama love you so very much.."

From that moment on everything around Claire turned to pitch black.

* * *

 **C** LAIRE woke up from her state with a loud gasp and tears still rolling down her eyes. She couldn't stop crying and not really cared for showing her weakness in front of the eccentric man at the moment.

"Do you know that you were adopted?" Willy asked very softly as he lifted the magical bind that tied her arms at her back.

Claire slowly nodded.

" I...I never knew about my biological parents, but I kept a photograph of them.. I..I was being told they both died in a nasty fire. They'd died while protecting me." She sobbed and wiped away her tears using her sleeves.

"My adoptive parents had never tried to hide that though I'm their adopted child, they had showered me with great care and love. I love them."

" I see.." Willy gave her a sad smile. "I'm sure both of your parents have loved you greatly and are protecting you." He held on her hands warmly.

"In fact, because of their loves for you-"

"Stupefy!" A familiar baritone voice broke the silence.

Before Willy could finished his sentences, something had hit him on the side and caught him opened and totally off guard!

"Willy!"

Claire got up on her feet and rushed to help the stunned man out from being beaten to death by a very pissed off Lucius Malfoy, who did not hesitate to jump onto of him and punched his bloody face out.

While he was at it, his usually calm and composed friend simply watched as he beat the man who dared steal his woman.

"YOU DARE TO STEAL _MY_ WOMAN, YOU WORTHLESS SON OF BITCH?!"

"Lucius!" Claire called out to him, trying her best to pull the man off the already heavilly bleeding wizard beneath him. However, Lucius' resistance was too strong and too much for her. He kept on smashing the wizard's face with each hit grew stronger than before.

"LUCIUS, stop! You'll kill him!" Claire looked at Severus. "Severus! Tell him to stop! Please!"

"Why should I? The block deserves every single beating he received from Lucius for kidnapping you AND for making you cried!"

"He didn't make me cried, Severus! I didn't cry because of him! Lucius, please stop! You're killing him!"

Claire bravely wrapped his one hand and wrapped her available arm around his neck, forcing him to face her instead.

Hopefully he wouldn't judo-throw her in his wild and enraged state of mind.

"Lucius... _Love_ , I'm okay. I'm here..." Claire said quietly, brushing the damp strings of his hair on his forehead.

He looked absolutely horrible.

The dark shadows under his eyes made him looked older from his actual age, his face was red with pure rage, and his eyes when they met hers, the were eyes filled with terrors at what might have happened to her.

"Lucius.. I'm here. I'm okay." She repeated the words very slowly. She brought his face closer so that their foreheads meet.

Lucius on the other hand, lifted her chin with his less bloody hand and looked straight into her eyes.

Once he found what he was searching for, Lucius without hesitatingly, crushed his lips onto her. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her passionately.

Severus raised an eyebrow before turning his back facing to the couple for some privacy.

"We managed to-" Ronald Weasley's voice was immediately cut when he saw the two unlikely couple kissed and quickly covered his eyes. "Sweet Merlins, thank you for deliberately destroyed my innocent eyes, you two!"

Harry appeared beside him. Like Ronald, he too was shocked by the sight but unlike his friend here, Harry simply looked away.

Miss Rollins is an adult therefore, she is old enough to choose whomever she wishes to be with... Even if that same man happened to be Lucius Malfoy.

And besides..

Harry glanced at the couple who was now hugging each other and totally in their own little world.

He has changed. That Malfoy.


	17. Chapter 17

**Shoutouts to:**

 **MissesE: Thank you so much for your support! Very glad to hear you liked the last chapter! Huhu ㈴2 Hope you will enjoy this chapter as well. Happy reading!**

 **#Prayfortheworld**

 **Chapter 17: Red Salivia**

 **RITA** Skeeter slammed her hands on her paper filled desk with great frustration. For weeks she had been finding it hard to get a good material for her gossip column.

The "Snape's Scandals" were no longer attracting the readers, so as the 'Malfoy's Beast Scandals' that used to be the greatest gossip especially amongst the female witches. In fact; the pictures that she had taken of the Malfoy Patriach and his young date weeks before, did not turned out to be successful at all!

Someone had abruptly pushed her, and thus, caused her to take blurred snapshots pictures of the couple!

"Damn it!" Rita slammed her hands onto the desk again.

"If only that bloody Allen Roberts hadn't suddenly cut off his every connections with me, I could have very easily gotten my hands on the materials about those two Wizards and the muggle!" She growled loudly to no one.

Huffing, Rita decided a cup of tea mixed with vodka would do her mind justice. Walking over to the dark cherry wooden shelves to find the said vodka, Rita suddenly stopped when she felt unfamiliar presence at her doorstep.

Wordlessly, she reached out for her wand on the desk and pointed at the door.

"Who's there at the door?" Rita commended.

The door burst out opened and revealed a young woman stood at the door wearing a deep red hooded cloak, with a hidden face covered by her long flowing dark Mocha hair.

"Who are you and what business do you have with me? I don't remember expecting a visitor tonight. Even if I do, it certainly not a young woman."

The mysterious young woman chuckled lightly. "How unfortunate. Here I am willingly giving you a free service after all that you have done nothing but failed me."

Rita deeply frowned. "What are you talking about?"

The young woman lifted her left hand in the air and snapped her fingers.

Instantly, the stationeries in Rita's office elevated and and surrounded Rita, with sharp objects all pointed out at her.

Rita's mouth was agape when the stationeries on her desk and shelves had elevated and surrounded her in a slow anxious motion. As if they were ready to attack her without any warnings whatsoever.

Rita tried to cast a repelling spell but found herself she couldn't. She tried many times casting one spell after another but greatly failed at it.

"You're wasting your time, love." The mysterious lady spoke after a while.

"Shut up!" Rita hissed. "What do you want from me? I have nothing!"

"Ah, but you do. In fact, you of all the people have what I wanted the most," She showed several photos taken by the media at her. Photos of Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy along with their Muggle friend and another Wizard in public.

"Do you recognise these people?" The young woman asked again, pointed out a black nail at Snape and Malfoy.

Rita rolled her eyes. "Who wouldn't? Everyone knows who they are unless they've been living under the Stonehenge all these years."

"Good. Then you would know these two as well?" She then pointed photo of Claire Rollins and Willy Wonka.

"I know that fella. Unfortunately, not the young wo...man..." Rita's eyes grew widened. She snatched the photo from the young woman's hand for a closer look.

Rita gasped. "Sweet Merlin! It's that little Muggle _bitch_ at the Spring ball! And also Malfoy's date at the Hogwart's Quidditch House Cup! I would never forget such hideous looking face!"

"Excellent. In that case, I have a task for you. I want every information you could gather about this young Muggle and her relationships with these two men. In addition to that, I would also like you to investigate the other Wizard as well."

Rita snorted loudly. "Do you really expect me to simply follow your orders just like that? Honestly?" Narrowing her eyes, Rita said again, "I don't work for free, dearie. If you want something from me, I expect something in return."

"You shall do as I asked for. In return, I will let you on a little secret..." The young woman lifted her chin to look.

Rita gasped again, loudly this time. Her eyes filled with terror.

"It can't be... I-It's impossible!"

Right after those words left her mouth, a scissor was pointed at her neck.

Rita was clearly petrified. Never before had she expected to face another terrifying horror after months of living in peace and silence.

"Now that you have see me, you do realised just how capable I am to destroy you in a blink of an eye, do you?"

Rita nodded her head, very slowly.

"Good." The young woman dropped her hand and everything else dropped on the floor in a hard slam.

"I'll be sure to check on you time from time. Do not rebel on me, Miss Skeeter. Unlike someone we all know, I will not hesitate on killing you for my own personal gain. I reckon hink twice before you decide to let anyone knows about this conversation."

The woman quickly, apparated to Merlin knows where.

As soon as she left, Rita's trembled knees gave in and she slipped down on the floor.

Rita Skeeter was no pushover. She was everyone's nightmare when it comes to false informations and gossips however, rarely she showed her weaknesses. During the First and Second Wizarding World, though Rita might have fled from the war to save her own life, never once did she felt scared or terrified.

That was, until at this very moment.

She couldn't tell anyone about what had just happened. She couldn't even write it down to the 'Daily Prophet' to warn other people, fearing what might have happened to her life later.

Rita Skeeter did the next thing that she knew best －researching.

* * *

 **DECEMBER** arrived in a blink of an eye. Before everyone knew it, it was already Christmas. However, unlike the previous years, the Malfoys had decided that this year, they would forsaken the traditional way of spending Christmas by going off to somewhere else.

Somewhere at the snowy Mountains in Canada, there was a private property owned by the Malfoy for their Summer Vacation House. It was there where Severus Snape, Lucius and Draco Malfoy, Claire Rollins and the latest addition to their small group, Willy Wonka decided to spend their Christmas.

The sound of someone crashed onto the thick white snow, and fell ungracefully on her butt, followed by a loud burst of manly laughters by the two men standing not so far away from the scene.

"You gotta keep your balance, love!" Willy Wonka shouted out aloud under the canopy he was currently occupied under with Lucius who were over watching them.

Claire Rollins got up to her shaky feet after the ungraceful fall from her skateboard. Her face was red, partially from the fell and the rest from the embarrassment.

"Darn it. Why can't I use the darn poles like you?"

"Because you're not skiing!" Severus Snape answered, stopping beside her. He chuckled deeply at her. "You're a clumsy lass, aren't you?"

"Shut up." Claire grumbled and got up. She was determined to try snowboarding at least once in her life. "Damn it. I CAN do this!"

Of course, doing so was easier said than done.

A fem moment later, after repeatedly falling on her butt and embarrassing herself, Claire began to wander if she could snowboarding after all.

"Can I really do this?" She grumbled loudly.

Panting heavily, Claire got up on her feet once again before someone called out to her.

"Having trouble, love?" Lucius stopped in front of her. He chuckled deeply while offering his hands for her.

Claire rolled her eyes at his remarks. Taking his hands, she got up on her feet easily. She then looked at him with one hand on her hips.

"Go ahead and laugh, Lucius. I really can't do this."

"Neither could I. Why do you think I'd refused your offer earlier?"

"Huh. Is that so?" Claire snorted. "Here I'd thought you could do almost _anything._ "

"Anything? Prey tell, love, just what exactly do you have in mind?" Lucius came closer to her. She could feel his breathing on her face as their noses were brushing each other.

Their lips were very closed on touching when they heard something shouted loudly at them to move out of the way.

"Huh?" Claire pulled away first, and turned her head to look at the source of the voice.

A snowboarder was heading toward them rapidly fast. Claire, with her feet still stuck on the snowboard, started to panic as the snowboarder getting closer, when all the suddenly she felt an arm wrapped around her waist before found herself being pushed to the other side －her feet finally freed from the snowboard as the incoming snowboarder passed by them.

"Are you all right, Claire?" Lucius said a moment later.

Claire nodded and gave a small smile. "Thanks."

The snowboarder earlier made a turn and stopped before them. he turned to look at them who were still on the ground and frowned.

"Kindly do not bother the other boarders if you're not into snowboarding, Miss Claire."

"Apologise, Draco. Claire was just having a slight problem with it." Lucius said.

"I can clearly see that, Father." Draco scoffed.

"If it isn't too much of a problem to ask, perhaps you could teach her how to snowboarding, Draco?"

Draco raised an eyebrow at his father's request, before his eyes moved from the man to the young woman beside him.

While he had made a promise to his Father that he would act more tolerable and civilized in her presence due to his love to his father, that doesn't give him any reasons that he should like her －especially when she had punched him in front of everyone, and the Weasley of all the people!

Sighed, Draco reluctantly nodded.

Lucius smiled warmly to his son before helping his girlfriend to get back on her feet.

And so it began.

Draco's Lesson 101 on Snowboarding.

For Lucius, it was a chance for his son to see Claire more than just a mere Muggle and is someone who was important in his life. Someone whom Lucius would never want to trade for anything else.

For Claire, it was a beginning of hell. Because the moment Lucius had left the two of them and headed to the canopy where Severus Snape and Willy Wonka were enjoyed drinking hot cocoa, Draco smirked sinisterly at her.

 _Oh boy._

* * *

 **"Oi** , use your waist more!" Draco slapped Claire firmly on the back of her waist, causing her to shriek a bit too loud.

"Hey, what was that for?" She frowned, turning to look at the younger looking man.

"You're doing it all wrong! Honestly." Draco yelled and rolled his eyes. "You have to move your waist more not just your feet. You ought to find balance. Only then you won't down flat on your face and make a fool yourself! Now try again!"

From far, Lucius watched his son coaching Claire using a pair of Muggle-made Binocular. He could see improvement in her skills, albeit slowly. Sighing, Lucius never felt so at eased. Everything that he needed, his family, back together again.

While Lucius did missed Narcissa from time to time, especially during Christmas, when family gathered together, he found himself at peace knowing that she had gone to a hopefully better place than here. He knew Draco was having a hard time. After all, he had been a Mummy's boy growing up. However, Lucius knew if anything, his boy had grown up after the war.

It would take Draco some time to accept that Claire was slowly becoming a part of his life now. But Lucius had a full confident that when the time comes, he would finally understood why he, Lucius chose the Muggle in the first place.

"They seem to have fun." Willy voiced out all the sudden.

After the whole 'kidnapping' event and the fact that Lucius had beaten the wizard within the inch of his life after stunning him, and brought him to face with Shacklebolt, Willy had explained his intention and told them everything; about Claire's past, his connection with her, his reason for choosing her and including pledged his undying loyalty to Claire and only her alone.

When Severus had asked him about the Death Mark, Willy had said he spotted two Death-Eaters were trying to break through the barrier surrounding the manor, and thus, had used Killing Curse on the poor sods.

It was also revealed that Willy had known Claire's biological parents, both Muggles, way before she had been born during one of his trips to the Muggle world to do some researches. They had been neighbours when he had first left the Wizarding World and came and lived in the Muggle world when she had been an infant.

Willy had later revealed that he was, in fact, Claire's Godfather, when her biological parents had died in the nasty fire caused by the Dark Lord during one of his riots.

The reason why he chose not revealed himself to her all these years because he had been confused himself as why Claire had survived when the Dark Lord had _crucio-ed_ her. Initially, Willy had thought that Claire had been someone else who bore the same name as his God-daughter.

For Claire, the whole thing had been bizarre for her mind to take. Nevertheless, she accepted it with an opened heart. After all, he was her only link to her biological parents now.

Lucius blinked his eyes a couple of times before he turned to look at the said wizard who was smiling gleefully at his God-daughter.

"Indeed they are. Although, Draco seems a bit harsh on her. I should have a word with him later." A hard pat on his right shoulder by the same wizard caused Lucius to nearly bit his tongue.

"Ah, you're too tense!" Willy chuckled loudly, much to Lucius' uncomfortable. Ever since it was the Wizard revealed himself as Claire's God-father, Lucius had one thing in his mind; his future with Claire.

Lucius had tried to ask the Wizarding regarding their future together. However, Willy's reply had disappointed him greatly.

" _I'm apologised, Mr. Malfoy. It's not that I do not wish to help you, it is just that as for now, anything or anyone that is related to Claire one way or another, my prediction will go haywire. Ever since my dear Claire met the two of you, my predictions of her had been off."_

Lucius sighed. He was about to ignore the wizard and focused on his love and son when Willy asked him something that made him paused.

"How truly in love are you with my God-daughter, Malfoy?"

Lucius slowly turned his head to face. When he spoke, his voice was rich with confidence.

"More than life itself."

"I see." Willy smiled.

There was something about his smile that both concerned and worried Lucius. "Are you by any chance, oppose to our relationship,Wonka?"

"Oh not at all! However, I shall test on what you've just told me. Soon."

"Test? What sort of test are you-" Before he could finished, he was interrupted by the arrival of his love and son.

Claire shook her head. "I so don't want to do that again."

"Be grateful you have a wonderful teacher! Because of me, you're getting a lot better at it than before."

"I take it you lots must be tired and cold. How about some cups of freshly brewed hot cocoa for a change?" Willy offered each of them a cup, which they gladly accepted.

While the two youngsters were busily talking about their recent activities, Lucius' mind wandered about what Willy had just said to him.

* * *

 **NOT** long after they were done with their activities, night arrived at last. Dinner were served by the House-Elves who were taking care of the place.

A huge roasted turkey served at the centre of the long table, with gravies, roasted potatoes, loaf of bread, chicken pies, Christmas cake, cookies, mushroom soup, salad, and last but not least, a glass of Red Wine to be served for all.

Dinner was good and comfortable. Everyone was enjoying their meals while chatting about what they were doing today and what they might do tomorrow. After dinner were served, Willy suddenly remembered he had made something earlier for dessert and went off to the kitchen.

When he returned a moment later, he was carrying a tray of poached pear in a small glass dessert cup.

"Here you go, love. Made with lots of TLCs." He handed one cup to Claire.

"TLC? What the Devil is that?" Severus asked, strangely.

"It means Tender,Loving, and Care. TLC."

"Ah." the black haired man nodded. "Well this is indeed lovely. However, are you sure you can take it, Miss Rollins? You do know it's being poached by red wine, yes?"

"Too late." Draco answered for him, pointed out at the already tipsy Claire staring in the air with a small goofy smile.

Totally inexperienced.

Severus looked bewildered at his friend. "Did she had the wine earlier?"

Draco shook his head. "I heard she asked the House-Elf for a jar of Rosy Tea sometime during meal earlier."

"Then she's must have been a _very_ light drinker for being tipsy by just eating the poached pear." Severus sighed and looked at the Grandfather's clock hanging on the wall. "It's not even ten o'clock yet. Perhaps someone should take her to her chamber? Lucius?"

"Hmm? Oh yes." Lucius finished his drink, pulled himself to his feet and went to the other side to her seat. When he reached there, Lucius pulled her chair and gently lifted her arms to link with his.

* * *

 **The** couple slowly made their way to Claire's chamber. Claire, though only consumed very little amount of alcohol, was already swinging left and right had it not been for Lucius who kept her steady in his arms.

"Thanked Merlin you didn't consume any alcohol during our first date or else, we won't ended up to where we are now. I get turned off easily when any of my date got tipsy so early."

His comment made her pouted. "Are you saying I'm turning you off, Lucius? That's not a very _noice_ thing to say to your lady friend! Apologize! Or else I won't give you prezent!"

Lucius chuckled deeply in her ear.

"My dear, you never turned me off." He blew an air to her ear before continuing their destination.

* * *

 **Getting** to her chamber wasn't that difficult, Lucius assured himself. Getting her to bed, however was quite a challenge, he mused.

Using wordless spell, Lucius opened the door of her chamber before shutting it. He then proceed to laying Claire on her bed as gently as he could, with her arms still tangled around his neck.

"I have a present for you..." Claire mumbled softly. Her eyes were drowsy and falling asleep but she fought it.

"You can give it to me later, love. For now, go to sleep." Lucius was just about to kiss her foreheadwhen she suddenly shouted.

"No!" Claire suddenly sat up. Much to Lucius' surprise. "I want to give it now! There's a green box on the desk. Bring it over to me."

Lucius raised an eyebrow but did as he was told. Waving his wand at the present, hebought it over to them and put it on her laps. The present was quite a medium small size, so to say, wrapped in a Slytherin green with red polka dots ribbon.

"Open it! Open it!" Claire clapped her hands joyfully.

Lucius smiled at her as he slowly unwrapped the present.

Underneath the wrapped present was a set of Slyterin green plaid pyjamas made from 100% Cotton made from Japan.

"I noticed most of your clothes were all made from expensive silk. So I'd thought why not get you something you never had before like cotton for example. Cheap but very comfy." Claire giggled.

Lucius looked at his gift. Indeed this was the first time he received such present. Usually, a man of his status would receive expensive material made from the very best craftmen that ever existed.

Now..

The material was soft and comfortable, despite the plain plaid pattern.

"Do you like it?" Claire bit her lower lip. When she had bought the pyjamas she had been confident he would like it no matter how plain it was because of it's material. But now she wasn't so sure anymore.

Lucius slowly put down the pyjamas back to its box. Cupping her cheeks with both hands, he leaned forward and closer to her lips.

"Perfect." He whispered, before sealing his lips with her.

Claire wasted no time. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed her body into her.

Lucius bit her upper lip, groaning when she opene her mouth to let his tongue in.

After a minute of battling for dormination, Lucius finally pulling away for her, panting and huffing as their foreheads touched.

"I have something to give you too." He said breathlessly. Reaching out to his pocket, Lucius took out a small gift and handed it over to her.

"My undying love to you."

Claire looked at the small box and turned back to him who wore a warm smile.

Slowly she unwrapped the gift. opened the box and gasped softly at the small love-shaped locket charm. Inside the charm, was a red Salvia flower.

 _Forever mine._

It's Lucius' way of love declaration.

"Oh Lucius." Claire pulled him close for a couple soft kisses on the lips. She pulled away from him and looked straight in the eyes. Gone all her tipsiness.

"I love you, Lucius Malfoy." She said it. Those three precious words she had been dying to tell him but was so unsure of her real feelings before, now clearly came to light.

"I love you." She kissed his cheeks and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you so much, Lucius. Very much."

Lucius had been so stunned by her words, suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"I love you very much, as well. My beautiful Claire.."

Lucius devoured her lips again, gently biting her lips. Claire moaned into his mouth, clutching his long blonde locks as he gently pushed her down on the bed. His right hand gently pitched her waist.

Lucius moved from her lips to her neck, sucking and softly biting her skin, leaving marks all over her neck and caused Claire to gasp.

Oh dear Merlin he had never been deeply in love like this. Not with Narcissa nor anyone else for that matter.

It was getting harder for him to control himself any longer. If he continued on like this, Lucius feared he might crossed the line.

Sighing on her skin, Lucius was just about to pull himself away from her when Claire suddenly tightened her arms around his neck.

"No.. Please, Lucius. I want you to make love to me.. Tonight."

For the second time,the great Malfoy Patriarch was stunned by his young love

"Pardon?"

"I want us to make love, Lucius. I'm ready.. to give myself to you. I-I know you've been waiting patiently for me. So now, I'm giving you a permission to cross that line and make love to me.."

Lucius stared at her face thoughtfully. Her eyes were in passion filled haze as she looked back at him with so much love while her fingers played with his long locks.

Lucius knew better.

Gently he held on her hands and brought them to his lip. Lucius kissed her palms repeatedly and gently.

"We can't."

"Why ever not?"

"You're intoxication, my love. Also, you will kill me the next morning and you will hate me forever. I can't let that to happen. I'll die, Claire. I'll be sure to die if ever you leave me."

He gave her a last kiss on the lips.

"Turn around. Let me hold you while you sleep."

Claire in her intoxication state grumbled softly about something but turned around as she was told.

Lucius held her in his arms and let sleep consumed them both.

* * *

 **Meanwhile** , downstairs, three men were sitting in the living room with flushed cheeks either from the many rounds of wine they had consumed of the fact that Lucius hadn't come down since he left to escort Miss Rollins to her private chamber.

Draco refused to comment the stupid remarks made by his intoxicated friends like what was taking Lucius too damn long to bring up the girl to her room.

* * *

 **MORNING** came in bless. Claire stirred from her sleep with a slight headache and a pair of arms wrapped around her.

When she opened her eyes, she was met with green plaid pyjamas shirt wore by the man on the same bed as her.

Smiling to herself, Claire closed her eyes again for a ten minutes of sleep before they need to start packing and headed back to the manor.

By twelve o'clock sharp, everyone had finished packing their stuff was were getting ready to apparate back to the Malfoy manor.

Claire reached out her hand to her Godfather to apparate them, while Lucius held hands with Draco, and Severus Snape apparate alone.

In a blink of an eye, they arrived at the front door of the manor.

"Home sweet home, at last!" Claire said, stretching her hands in the air.

Lucius smiled and stepped into the front door. His smile faded quickly and he was left with his mouth agape, face white and widened eyes.

Draco who was standing in line behind him began alerted when he noticed his father's broaden shoulders stiff.

Taking out his wand discreetly from his pocket, Draco stepped aside and pointed his wand at the person when he too suddenly stopped.

"Hello, Lucius. Draco. Nice to see the two of you are safe and well." The soft airy voice belonged to none other than Naricssa Malfoy shocked everyone including Severu Snape and especially Lucius who had thought his wife had died in the war.

 **Soooo, drama anyone? XD there are lot more to come! Thanks for reading! ㈴2**


	18. Chapter 18

**Shoutout goes to:**

 **MissesE: *evil laugh* Hahahaahaa I most certainly made you jumped off your seat with the last chapter huh? XD well you will be doing a lot more jumping later on. I'm glad you enjoyed the little scene with Claire and Lucius on the previous chapter ;) Enjoy this one as well!**

 **Chapter 18** **: Unexpected Return**

 **"N** ARCISSA."

Lucius coughed and cleared his voice, after an eternal long silence. He was still deeply in shocked with the appearance of his supposedly dead wife. Beside him, Draco hadn't lowered his wand, though his hand was obviously shaken.

Narcissa stared at the wand pointed at her from the corner of her eyes, with arms crossed on her chest.

"Now, Draco. Is that really a way to greet your Mother after months of not seeing her?"

Draco snapped out of his thoughts. "My mother's dead. Who are _you?_ "

Narcissa was crestfallen by her son's answer. Though, she understood why. After all, nobody had expected her to be alive. Even Narcissa herself didn't expect to still be breathing today had it wasn't for...

"It's true that the Dark Lord had used _Avada Kedavra_ on me when he'd found out I'd lied to him about Harry Potter's supposedly death in the Forbidden Forest before his death. I shouldn't still be alive. Had it wasn't for my kind older sister who had saved me, Andromeda. You remember her don't you, Lucius dear?"

Lucius blinked his eyes from his far away thoughts. He looked up at his wife, still not believing that she was standing before him. While his mind was busily wandered to his wife, Lucius had forgotten all about Claire who stood awkwardly behind Severus Snape with Willy Wonka.

"Yes. I..I remembered her."

Narcissa nodded. "She had been the one who found me dying and bought me back to the Tonks' Family household and had also been the one who treated my wound. While I was there, I had a lot of things to think about..."

Narcissa spoke forlornly with a soft and quiet voice.

"I thought of my family members, most of the time. How wrongful they were about the importance of blood purity and the family's wealth, the guilts and griefs I felt over the deaths of so many people; including my own eldest sister, Bella and also, Dromeda's only daughter and son-in-law. In addition to that, I had a very hard time accepting the fact that Bella, my own sister had killed our cousin, Sirius Black."

Narcissa looked away from the polished floor to her husband and son.

"I didn't mean to deceive any of you about my death. Honest. I needed some time for myself to re-evaluate everything that had happened to our lives before and after the war. I'm very sorry, Draco."

Draco looked at her with red watery eyes. He was clearly torn between wanting to hug her or stayed mad at her for deceiving him.

Meanwhile, Severus Snape who had also been in a great shock earlier, cleared his throat before addressing a question. All the while, trying to grasp the situation on hands.

"What made you decided to come forward now, Narcissa? Why now and not sooner?"

Narcissa took out a parchment from her skirt's pocket. Using wordless magic, she tossed it over to Severus who caught it perfectly.

"I received that threatening letter a while ago."

Severus read it aloud:

"'Blood traitors who dared to betray the Dark Lord shall suffer fate that's even worse than death itself.' It's written in blood."

"I came back to warn you and to protect my family from whoever the idiot who dared to threaten the Malfoy's family with petty words."

"I need to report this to Shacklebolt immediately. We've been trailing down the mysterious schemer who had been sending us threats for months without any successful outcomes. Does anyone else beside your sister knows about your current situation?"

"Yes. Shacklebolt and Harry Potter."

"He knew you alive?! That half-blood _scum!_ " Draco's voice rose aloud with rage. Even Lucius who had been quiet had abruptly looked up.

Narcissa raised her hand before Draco could spat more curses to Potter.

Calmly she said, "It had been my decision to let him know, Draco. Shacklebolt knew I'm still alive through Dromeda, and I chose to tell Potter in regards for all the mean words I had said and acted toward him for the past years. We've made an agreement that he would not tell anyone about it. Not even to you, Draco, until I am ready to reveal to you myself."

While Draco still fumed over his arch-rival, Severus chose to take his leave to deliver the important news to Shacklebolt. Leaving only the five of them.

A moment after he had calmed himself down, Draco approached his mother and wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. Lucius followed closely behind him and kissed his wife's cheek before embracing his family in a tight hug.

it was supposed to be a tender moment.

It should be a happy and tender moment for a family who had previously thought falling apart when one of them had died, and by miracle, was back together again as one.

Thus, she shouldn't be sad about this, right?

Claire Rollins tried to argue her heart with logical thinking. Biting her lower trembling lips from sobbing out. She told and reminded herself over and over again that this was as far as her relationship with Lucius goes.

 _You're the light I'm the shadow on the wall when you sleep  
Everything that I need is right here with me_

She had to do the right thing now.

She had to let him go, back to his wife and son. To his family.

Her fairy tale dream end here and now.

Beside her, Willy Wonka looked gloomily at her. It didn't take a genius to figure out what she had in mind judging from the look on her face. Willy knew what came in next. Though he could not predict his God-daughter's future, he could however, predict the Malfoy's future － they would lived happily and together again as one.

There was no room for her whatsoever.

 _Little time not a moment wasted with you  
I realized to stay  
We had to break away_

Lucius opened his eyes widely when he suddenly realized something. He pulled back from hugging his family and turned around to look at the front door.

"Claire?"

She was no where in sight.

"Claire?" Lucius' wandered eyes wildly searched for her outside.

"Claire!"

"My dear Lucius, who is it you're calling to?" Narcissa looked at her husband before turning to her son who chose to look down and kept silence.

To her utter surprise, there was a hint of sadness in her son's eyes.

"Claire!" Lucius continuously called her name when suddenly, his left shoe stepped onto something breakable caught his attention.

Lucius knelled down to take a good look what it was he had stepped on when his heart stopped for a beat.

It was the gift he had given to Claire, the love-shaped charm locket with a red Salvia flower, now broken in halves.

 _Forever Mine._

His eyes widened.

Memories of last night's intimacy flashed in his mind as he stared at the broken locket.

 _No._

Lucius felt as if someone had just dumped a bucket of icy water on him.

His blood ran cold.

"CLAIRE!" He barked loudly.

"Good Merlin, Lucius!" Narcissa scolded.

Now she was getting worried and utterly confused. In all of her twenty-one years of marriage to the man, never before had she seen him in such great distressed over something like he was now.

 _Goodbye  
Good Goodbye_

 _No._

No.

NO!

Lucius tried to keep himself calm. He took a long deep breath, holding the now half-broken charm pendant in his hand.

Before Narcissa could say anything else, Lucius had apparate to Merlin knows where.

Lucius appeared in the Muggle World in a silence 'pop', at the front of the Claire's Apartment whom she shared with Severus.

Lucius entered the apartment in a rush and made his way to their unit. Once arrived, instead of using the key to unlock the door, Lucius cast a spell to forcefully opened it.

His mouth was agape with shock at the half empty apartment. Lucius quickly moved to Claire's private chamber and found out that all her stuff were gone and left with only an empty forsaken room.

There was a letter on the floor, written especially to him.

" _Dear Lucius,_

 _I wish you all the happiness to you and your family._

 _Please don't look for me . What we had is something that I will always cherish for the rest of my life._

 _Be a good husband to Narcissa, Lucius. She deserves you after all you both been through._

 _Yours Truly,_

 _Claire Rollins."_

Lucius's shaky hand dropped the letter as he curled up on the floor like an infant. He felt his own lungs deflate. Something was literally breaking inside of him. He could feel it.

His heart.

That was when no matter how hard Lucius tried to stop the fluids from flowing out of his eyes, he couldn't. The stinging sensation was too much for him to take.

* * *

 **SEVERUS** Snape slammed the front door of his Apartment rather loudly and damped all his school beg somewhere on the floor before heading toward the kitchen to fetch himself a cold bottle of Firewhiskey that he kept in the fridge.

He then proceed to the living room and seated on his comfortable sofa in front of the Muggle's television, with his legs crossed as he watched the news.

Severus had been in a gloomy mood as lately.

Today had been a terrible day for him at school. He had lose his temper to almost all his insufferable students who were either not completing their assignments or not paying attention in the classroom at all.

Drinking the Firewhiskey straight from the bottle, Severus pondered in the silence of his apartment. He looked at the big calendar hanging on the wall.

The date was now 3rd March 1999.

Two and a half months had passed since the sudden disappearance of Claire Rollins a day after last Christmas and the unexpected return of Narcissa Malfoy.

On that same day, after Severus had given into his reports to Shacklebolts and returned home for a nice hot shower and a change of cloth, he too had been in shock to see the apartment was half-empty.

"What the Devil is going on here?" Severus shouted.

Just as he had passed by the living room, once again, he had been caught off guarded by Lucius' presence in Claire's room, sitting on the floor, looking at nothingness.

"Lucius?" Severus had carefully asked as he observed the otherwise empty room.

"She's gone."

"I can see that, Lucius. It appears she decided to take _everything_ along with her as well." Severus gotten on his knee and picked up a piece of letter laying on the floor.

After reading the letter for a minute, he had sighed.

"While I'm very much inclined to say this to you Lucius, I think you should heed her words on this one."

Lucius turned to glare at his old friend.

"The very reason why you had come to the Muggle world in the first place was because you were grieving for the so called death of your wife," Severus said it as gently as he could. "Now that Narcissa is back safe and sound, I think it is wise if you put your family first. After all, you owed them so much during the war. And as for Miss Rollins." Severus folded the letter carefully.

"It's best if we all forget about her. That way, she would be kept safe from whatever harms and threats that are aiming at us."

Severus had said that, but even _he_ did not know where Miss Rollins had gone off to. After he had let his old friend to have a private grieving for a moment, he had sent the man back to his family with a few private words with Draco to keep a close watch on Lucius.

Something told Severus that his old friend would up to no good if he was being left alone at the moment.

Severus reached out a hand for a letter on the coffee table beside him.

he read the letter silently before pitching the bridge of his nose and let out a loud curse.

Getting up to his feet, Severus switched off the television and walked to his own private chamber to get ready to go for a short travel.

* * *

The city of Sheffield, was the third largest English district by population. The metropolitan population of Sheffield is 1,569,000.

It was also here where a carnival was being held.

"Get your delicious ice-cream here over here! It's only £1!" A familiar female voice was shouting at the large crowd.

One by one the crowd who heard her began to walk to her ice-cream truck and placed their ordes.

The young woman at the booth was busily serving her customers.

Who would have thought the Willy Wonka's 'chocolate turned to ice-cream' idea would be such a great hit to the people?

As she was busily serving the customers, the back door of the truck shut loudly, and Willy Wonka himself appeared, carrying a heavy box of ice cream in his arms before putting them beside her.

"How's the business going, love?" He asked while helping her serving the customers.

"Excellent. If we keep this up we'll earned £20,000 today and £40,000 by tomorrow!" Claire Rollins said excitedly.

Willy could only smiled.

It had been long. Too long that he didn't see her smiled like that.

He remember what happened last year when Narcissa Malfoy showed up.

Claire had decided to cut all ties that she had with one Lucius Malfoy without even giving the man to chance to chose.

Claire went as far as moved out of her rented Apartment; leaving enough money for the January rent and letter in Severus's room, and moved all the way here to Sheffield.

It was a mean and unfair move not only to Lucius, but to Severus and all of her other friends as well.

Willy had even told her so, and asked her why.

"Because I refused to become his Mistress." Claire had replied after crying her heart out during the day, on that night.

She looked straight into his eyes with red and puffed eyes filled with stubborn determination.

"I refused to become a homewrecker. What Lucius and I had was something magical and couldn't be forgotten. It was like a fairy tales came true... But even I know fairy tales didn't exist and full of craps. Nobody lives happily ever after."

"You could have if you had just stayed and wait a bit longer!" Willy argued. "Malfoy would have figured something out. He would not let you go simply like that!"

"And what do you want me to do then? Wait for him to leave his wife and be with me instead?! I am not _selfish_ enough to do that! For the record, I know about the Wizard's marriage and the holy unbroken bind every married couple has. Wizarding couple could not get divorced. They would remained to be married until death tears them apart."

Claire took a long deep breath to calm herself down after leashing out at her Godfather.

She felt bad for snapping at her dear Godfather that night. After all, he had been the one who persistedly asked her not to leave.

When Claire had stubbornly made up her mind, Willy had joined her. Stated he would still be loyal and go to the end of the world with her no matter what.

Willy hadn't said anyhing else that night. Because right after she had leashed those words at her, Claire had failed to calm herself down and broke down to tears.

"Hey, pretty lady." An male customer who had paid for the ice cream and was waiting for his order began to flirt with her.

Claire smiled politely at him as she worked on his ice cream but didn't say anything.

The man unshamingly making his advances even though there was another man whom he easily presumed was the owner, looking at him with stern eyes.

"How about after work we go to the bar down the street and you serve my ice cream then?"

"How about if you kindly stepped away from her before I break each and every bones in your bloody body, you insufferable half-wit?" A familiar baritone voice spoke behind him.

Before the lad could turned his head around to look at the man who had just clearly insulted him, he felt himself being forcefully pulled away from the counter.

Severus Snape, dressed in a simple clothes for the summer, stared challengingly at the man with his arms crossed on his chest.

It was a sight that all of his students in Hogwart both feared wheneven they got into trouble while he had temporarily become the Headmaster.

The young lad trembled in fright, and fled away, forgotten his already paid ice cream.

Meanwhile, Severus' sharp and deep glare continued to grow as he looked down at the paled and shock filled face belonged to Claire Rollins.

"Se..verus.."Claire whispered softly after a long pause.

"Miss Rollins." Severus' hissed lowly.

They both stared at each other for a long while before being disrupted by the sound of Willy's cheerful voice.

Ah, ! You look well. What are you doing here at the carnival?" Willy asked cheerfully like the latter's sudden presence wasn't causing a high tension between his goddaughter and the said man.

"A little annoying owl kept dropping off this ice-cream pamphlets at my doorstep despite how many times I told it that I'm not interested of eating the ice-cream. When that doesn't work, it kept on tapping my windows with more of these pamphlets. Sufficiently to say, I was forced to come here, least I want my apartment to be filled with more of these pamphlets." Severus kept his sharp gaze on her the whole time he said those words. Never once did he blinked away nor did he looked away at the other man.

"Oh dear. That's truly unfortunated. I wonder who was the _irresponsible_ owner of the owl? He should be informed." Willy grinned as he turned to reload the ice-cream.

"Well do be seated, Mr. Snape." He pointed at the available chairs and table that suddenly appeared beside the truck. "Since there seems to be no customers around at the moment, perhaps you would like to take a short break, my dear?"

"W-what?" Claire blinked her eyes several times. She looked at her Godfather then to Severus.

"Oh, go off then!" Willy pushed her out from behind the counter. "I'll bring something for you to eat for lunch. Off you go then!"

 _And best of luck._ He whispered the last sentences silently.

 **Okay, okay I know some of you are feeling a bit angry at Claire for leaving Lucius behind.. Claire is still young at the age of 24, so she tends to act reckless at times.**

 **P/S: The song in the chapter was by a Japanese Rock band called One Ok Rock. It is called Good Goodbye. I do not owned the song whatsoever. Only borrowing it to fit the mood of this chapter.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Shoutout to:**

 **MissesE:** Yes, I'm sure we all feel sorry for Claire. The poor girl ;,( BUUUT! Rest assure there will be a happy ending! ;))

 **Chapter 19: I'll Be**

 **"I** take it Willy was the one who told you about my whereabouts?" Claire spoke up after a moment of silent, with Severus sitting in front of her.

Willy had kindly delivered their lunches earlier - a plate of lasagne and drinks, before he had to rush back to the counter to serve a couple of customers. He left not before telling her to take her time talking to a still permanently frowned Severus Snape.

"That depends: are you asking or stating the question?" He lifted his glass of iced mocha drink and sipped on it.

Claire frowned at his sharp remarks. "I'm asking."

"Then, yes." Severus nodded. "Here's an interesting fact, Miss Rollins: if it hadn't been for his stubbornness for consistency to write letters to me about you, I would had already cut all ties with you." Severus snarled, his face darkened and he bared his teeth at her.

Claire frowned uncertainly at the dark distrustful look he was giving her. It had been so long, too long since he had given her that look. The last time he had given her that look was during they first met.

They stared at each other for the longest time before Severus let out a long heavy sigh and looked away. The dark look on his face disappeared as he took a deep breath. Only the deep scowl on his forehead remained.

"Forget it. I'm already here. I might as well ask you some questions." Severus took a gulp of his drink, still refused looking at her.

"Why did you leave?" Severus asked again.

Claire focused her gaze on the ground. She expected the question to come when she had met him earlier.

She knew the reason why she left everyone behind. However, to say it out loud was choking her.

"I... I had to... No, I need to get away from everyone from the Wizarding world.. I felt like.. Like I'm losing my touch. Like I've become a weakling."

"Excuse me?" Severus raised an eyebrow.

Claire sighed. "When I protected, I become weak. When I'm treated kindly by others, I can't walk on my own two feet. I used to be so brave and bold. Like nothing could get to me. Things like breakups and heartbreaks, they usually don't get to me. They shouldn't affected me as much when I chose to leave. So much that it hurts. It hurt me enough to make me packed my bags and left everything behind without a second thought. That was when I realized, how much I had come to love Lucius. Knowing that, I needed to get away.. I needed to get away so that I may reform myself, to make me stronger again. To be unbreakable. This doesn't makes any sense to you, isn't it?"

Claire smiled wearily at him.

"Not particularly."

Severus shook his head.

"All I'm hearing are words coming from that stubborn mind of yours who clearly didn't think things through and decided to do things on your own. Honestly, you think too much for a Muggle young lady. You are constantly worrying over money and other people's happiness when you should have act more like idiots your own age and live life simply!"

Severus snapped.

"Have you ever thought of your own happiness instead of others? That maybe _you_ deserve to be with Lucius?"

"He's a MARRIED man, Snape!" Claire snapped back. "He already has a wife and a son before he met me! _A family!_ I will not be a home-wrecker to destroy whatever left that he and his family have! I knew about marriage in the Wizarding World, Snape. Divorce is forbidden between married couple, isn't it? Because of that, some wizard take in Mistresses or have an open relationship. I have my pride and dignity. No matter how much I loved him, I won't reduced myself to become his Mistress and share him with someone else. You should know me at least that much by now."

Snape was silence for a while after she had spoken those words.

He tapped his fingers impatiently on the glass of his drink before he broke the glass scattered it to tiny pieces.

"You stupid foolish girl!" Snape barked angrily at her.

"Do you seriously think Lucius hadn't thought about that the moment he saw Narcissa? Of course he had been more than shock upon seeing her, but Lucius' mind would always wandered back to you. Even in this circumstances, he would always thinks of you. Yes, your intention was noble and sensible, but you should have trust and have more faith in him to decide, at the very least. Or tell him straight in the face that you are done with him instead of simply walked away like what you'd done!"

"I-"

"You've broken him, Claire! He's a soulless man now. A shell, because, believe it or not, he had been madly, deeply and truly devoted and in love to you. I'd come to realise that fact when he had come rushing to save you like a desperate madman from Wonka."

Severus sighed heavily and took a deep breath.

"Deciding everything on your own without consulting us.. _Me_. You didn't even stopped to think how hurt I was going to be before you left, didn't you? Moreover, doesn't it make me and Lucius a couple of fools for saying we were going to protect you from whatever threats we're currently facing?" He looked at her gloomily.

Claire bit her trembled lips as his words sunk in.

 _Oh no. Not this again.. I'd thought I'm done crying._

 _Don't cry. Don't cry... You mustn't cry._

"I'm sorry Severus..." A tear finally flew out of her eyes. "I'm truly sorry..."

Followed by another and another.

Until finally, Claire couldn't stopping everything that was trying to flow out.

* * *

 **Rita** Skeeter slammed a generous amount of thick papers on her desk. Her eyes were guarded with dark circles under her eyes, when she looked up at the hooded cloak person sitting near her desk. Her skin was paler than before.

She looked a total wretch.

"Here are all of the informations you asked for."

Her guest took the papers and carefully looked at them.

"Impressive. I suppose you are done with the other task I'd given you?"

"Yes." Rita answered lowly. "I had the elf to send the letter over to Narcissa Malfoy prior to your instruction."

"Excellent." Rita's guest stood up, taking the thick papers with her.

"I shall be expecting more results from you some time in the future."

"Yes..." Rita barely nodded her head.

Her guest left the same way she had appeared in her office.

It had been months since Rita had been blackmailed to work under her _guest's_ order, whom she referred to as 'Madam R'.

Rita slammed her fists on the table in frustration.

"Darn her! Who does she thinks she is, making a fool of Rita Skeeter like this?!" Rita growled.

She had been trying her best not to strangle the life of her guest earlier but decided against it when she remembered how dangerous the young woman was.

No matter how many times she wanted to seek for help, each time she made up her mind, she got the feeling a pair of unwanted was watching her every moves.

That had been the only reason that stopped her from telling anyone.

Rita sighed and slumped her head against the desk.

For a moment, she didn't move at all. To an outsider, it may have seemed that she might just be dead.

However, a minute later, Rita abruptly lifted her head.

Of course. There IS a way to tell someone about what she had been up to for the past couple months. Granted she might lose her job, but it was a risk Rita was willing to take.

Grabbing her crocodile bag, she left her office.

* * *

 **CLAIRE** blew her nose using a hand-tissue before tossing it into the dustbin. She was taking Snape for a little walk around the carnival after she had been given a permission by the highly suspicious Willy to do so.

When Claire had loudly protest, saying her lunch time was long overdue and that it wasn't fair him to handle the customers alone and that he himself hadn't stopped working, Willy had threatened to cut her salary for today.

That made her shut up before Claire reluctantly obeyed his order to take Severus around to see the carnival.

Walking behind the tall dark greased hair man felt awkward for Claire now.

It almost felt like they were strangers instead of best friends.

Everything was all her fault. She was the one who created the distance between them.

Claire was so focused on her thoughts she didn't realised Severus had already stopped in front of her, and was now facing her.

She crashed into him.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Claire apologised and took a few steps back.

Severus coughed lightly and brushed his now crumpled shirt. He then cleared his throat and said,

"There is another reason why I'm willingly to come here, Miss Rollins, beside to see you."

"Oh? And that is?"

Severus looked uncomfortable. "You see, Miss Rollins... Teaching isn't my only job in the Muggle World. I have made a side incomes by using my knowledges in Potions. Though in here, your people would prefer to call it as Chemistry."

"So you're a Chemist then. In what field?"

"You'll be surprise. Fragrance."

"Excuse me?"

Severus rolled his eyes. "Women's fragrance, Miss Rollins. Also known as perfume."

This time, Claire didn't bother to hide her shocking face. She was gawking at him like he had grew another head.

"Congratulations!" Was all she managed to say. Which made Severus rolled his eyes again.

"In honour for the new fragrance release, I was invited to the event - a ball to be exact that is being held at one of the 4 stars hotel nearby."

Claire raised an eyebrow at him. "And?"

Grunted, Severus shoved an invitation card into her hands.

It was a pink and black invitation card to a formal social gathering.

"Severus... Are you asking me to-"

"Consider it as your bloody punishment for leaving _me_ behind."

"When is-"

"It's tonight."

"Tonight?! Severus, where on Earth do you expect me to find a bloody dress at this hour?!"

"You don't have to. It's already been delivered to your home." Severus replied cooly.

Before Claire could ask what did he mean by that, Severus had cut in and said, "Well, since you need time to get ready, may I suggest we leave early today?"

"Wait a moment, please. I need to tell Willy about this-"

"You don't need to. He already knows."

Now Claire began to feel annoyed. Crossing her arms, she looked at the older man with a raised eyebrow.

"You two had this whole thing planned ahead, don't you? You won't let me say a word."

Severus grew a smirk at her comment but didn't say anything.

"Be sure to be on time, Miss Rollins. Now off you go then."

* * *

 **When** Claire returned to the carnival, she went straight to meet with Willy who was done packing up and closing the booth. He was waiting for her.

"Oh, hello there, love. I take it you had a nice day with ?"

"Save your breath for sweet-talks me later, Willy." She showed her the invitation card. "You will be coming too, right?"

"Oh, yes. I received one as well." He summoned his own invitation card out of the thin air.

"Good. At least I have you around. I hope it's not _too_ formal."

"Oh no worries, deary. I'm sure it's just a simple thing. After all, we are talking about here." Willy smiled. "Now, hurry along! We have so much to do with your appearance!"

* * *

" **So** much for informality!" Claire muttered lowly the moment she arrived at the hotel. There were news reporters, famous celebrities and paparazzi all over and surrounded the whole place for the event.

Claire gulped without her escort. Severus had called her at the very last minute stating he would not be able to escort her as he had a last minute preparations to make before the opening ceremony. Thus, he would be leaving early.

As for Willy, the man had reluctantly forced by Severus to help him with the security measurements for the event because as it turned out, it was not only meant for Muggles, but also for the Wizarding Society as well.

Meaning there would be wizards and witches attending the ball.

 _He_ would be there as well.

All the sudden, Claire fel a little sick in her stomach.

She had mentally and emotionally prepared herself right before she left the small flat she shared with Willy, knowing who would be waiting for her at the ball.

Of course, that had been before Severus contacted her and told her about the news.

Severus' words earlier kept on playing in her mind:

 _"You've broken him, Claire! He is now a man without a soul. A shell!"_

Shaking her head, Claire tried to remain positive thinking- what she had done was the best for both of them.

He'll get over her eventually, just as she would get over him and be with someone else. Perhaps someone who would be close to her own age this time.

Sighed, Claire decided to put those thoughts away and focused on what's important now: the event.

Entering the hotel's lobby alone, dressed in a dark green off-the-shoulder Floor Length evening dress, for tonight, she made an effort to put on some very light make-ups and semi-bright red lipsticks.

Claire took a long deep breath at her new surrounding.

There were posters of Severus' fragrance all over the hallway and the sweet scent of lilies filled in the air.

 _Lily._

Claire smiled sadly. Severus must have carefully made the fragrance based on her in mind.

In a way, it was to show his undying love for her.

Claire's eyes grew widened. Her mind went to last Christmas' night when Lucius had declared his undying love to her by giving her a meaningful locket which she had unintentionally lose it when Willy had apparated them both back to her old Flat.

Claire had begged her Godfather to go back and looked for it with tear stained face.

When Willy returned a moment and delivered the bad news: he couldn't find it no matter how high or low he searched for it.

Claire's heart never been so broken since the death of her parents. She had wanted to at least keep a momento of their love.

Unfortunately, even that was a bit too much to ask and was not allowed.

Since that night, Claire resolved that her decision to end the relationship was a right and sensible one. Even if it means hurting herself and Lucius in the process.

Shaking her head again and shove all those gloomy thoughts to the back of her head, Claire took another deep breath.

She could do this. She rock the event with her dress without the two men standing by her side.

Off she went, to the main ball where the event was in cofidence and with her head held high.

* * *

 **The** interior design for the ball was incredible. White and pale green were the theme of the night.

Claire was passing through the crowd when a soft hand tapped her on the shoulder.

Turning around, she immediately met with a beautiful pale skinned young lady with straggly, waist-length, dirty blonde hair, very pale eyebrows, and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look.

What caught Claire's eyes the most was how the lady dressed herself; in a white robe in Ancient- Greek style, with various type of flowers around her head and colourful rainbows at the end of the said white robe, and a pair of sandals as well.

She looked like one of the Greek's Mythology Goddess. Claire had even expected a bird to come out of nowhere and landed on the young lady's shoulder.

"Good evening. Is your name Claire Rollins?"

Claire looked at the lady strangely. She looked at her, then to the empty air beside her, and back to the young lady again, who was waiting patiently for Claire to answer her.

"And who might you be?"

The lady stretched out her hand for a handshake.

"Luna Lovegood. Hogwart's student, Seventh Year, and future Magical Naturalist. It's nice to be your acquitances, Miss Rollins."

Claire returned the favour and reluctantly shook her hands.

"Nice to meet you too, Miss Lovegood. How did you know it was me or where to find me?"

"Oh, because you're the only one who does not carries a wand bag." She showed her wand bag, that looked a lot like a hand purse.

Claire raised an eyebrow.

"Well.. I don't have a 'wand bag' but I do have a handbag. See?" She showed her simple, light green handbag with a few ruby gems on.

Luna nodded. "That's a lovely design."

"Thank you." Claire cleared her throat.

"So, now that you've found me Miss Lovegood, what do you suppose to do with me?"

Luna clapped her hands together. "I'm suppose to be your escort for tonight. Professor Snape has ordered me to."

"Professor Snape? So you're one of his students?"

"Was, before the war ended. Personally, I quite like him as the Professor. He was quite intriguing. I missed him. I wished he come back and teaches us again."

"Well.. Perhaps you should tell him that when you meet with him? By the way, since Snape had asked you to keep an eye on me, do you mind if we get ourselves something to drink? I'm quite thirsty, actually."

Luna smiled. Without another word, she grabbed Claire's hand and pulled her to where the bar was.

* * *

 **Exactly** five minutes later, Claire found herself sitting at the bar with Luna beside her.

"Evening ladies," Blake, the handsome bartender greeted them. "What can I get for you lovely lasses?"

"Lemon Drop for me, please." Luna ordered.

"Good. And you, love?"

"Aren't you too young to be drinking?" Clare looked at Luna.

"It's alright, love. We have the non-alcoholic Lemon Drop as well."

"Oh."

"What about you?" Blake asked again.

Claire bit her lips. "I don't suppose you have any Roselle drinks non-alcoholic ones?"

"Usually we don't, love. However, we received a special request earlier today from one of the sponsor to prepare Roselle drinks - non-alcoholic ones." Blake winked at her and prepared making their drinks.

Claire couldn't get rid the smirk on her face. Who would have thought one of the Sponsor shared the same love for Roselle drinks as much as her? She could kiss that person!

As soon as her drink arrived, the opening ceremony began.

* * *

 **About** twenty minutes into the opening ceremony, and a half of beer glass empty, Claire was ready for some food.

She had seen Severus when he was being called upon to the stage to give a short speech on the fragrance, ' _Mémoire'._

In addition to that, Claire had also spotted Willy, walking around the perimeter with a couple of security guards behind him. She had managed to wave her hand at him to let him know she was there.

After the opening speech ended, everything from there happened all too quickly when the ball and the heart of the night finally began.

The crowd were chattering, spaces were opened up for those who wishes to dance, music was playing, and Claire?

Well she got stuck in the middle of all that while making her way to where the buffet table were!

Desperate to get away from the spotlight where she may or may not make a fool out of herself in front of some many famous and highly influence people, when all the sudden, she felt a cool, hard touch on her bare shoulder that nearly made her scream out loud.

"In Severus Snape's absent, may I have the next song's dance?"

"I'm truly sorry! I can't really..." Claire whirled around to find Lucius Malfoy bowing his head at her,and heard many people around them whispered.

"...Dance."

There was something different about Lucius Malfoy. Was it his hollowed stoic eyes? Or his cold handsomely face when he looked at her? Or was it the way he stood, as if he was a sixty year old man instead of fourty?

Claire couldn't decide which one. In fact, she couldn't even think at all.

Maybe it was the drink.

That darn Bartender must have put something in her drink. She should get him sued, because when Lucius stepped closer to her; again, offered her his hand for the dance, Claire mutely nodded.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, due to a special song request made by one of our finest sponsor, we would like to dedicate this song to all of you loverbirds out there!" The MC spoke over the microphone.

Soon, the music began.

 _The strands in your eyes_

 _that color them wonderful_

 _Stop me and steal my breath._

 _And emeralds from mountains_

 _thrust towards the sky_

 _Never revealing their depth._

It was a song thay had instantly caught Claire's attention.

Her favourite song.

 _Tell me that we belong together,_

 _Dress it up with the trappings of love._

 _I'll be captivated,_

 _I'll hang from your lips,_

 _Instead of the gallows_

 _of heartache that hang from above._

Slowly they started to move in circle, with Lucius's right hand on her hip and his other hand held her in firm yet gentle manner.

They looked at each other's eyes, lost in their own world.

 _I'll be your crying shoulder,_

 _I'll be love's suicide_

 _I'll be better when I'm older,_

 _I'll be the greatest fan of your life._

* * *

 **DRACO** Malfoy had just managed to escape the claws of his many business company's rivals who had thought they were smart enough to step all over him, now that he was officially in training to inherit the Malfoy's Business Company.

Draco made his way toward the opened space in search of finding his father who had, to his dismay, disappeared when he was talking to those foolish old gits.

He had come to accompany his father to this ball instead of his mother.

Speaking of her...

Draco sighed heavily.

After Narcissa had returned, they'd tried to start fresh and rebuild their relationships together as a family.

It had started out well at first, even his father, despite his own broken heart, tried his best to be there for the family.

To an outsider's eyes, it looked as if everything was okay again with the family. However, days passed by followed by weeks then eventually, a month had passed and things got back to where they started.

That was when Draco finally accepted things could no longer be the same for all of them ever again after the War.

For Narcissa, after years of having to obey to her family's wishes, she had finally tasted freedom for the very first time after the war ended and during supposedly 'death'.

Staying with her estranged older sister during her recovery period had made her realised that there was no black or white in life.

Only grey lines.

Everyone, no matter what their status in life, were all humans. The only thing that differences between them was money.

Take that away and you became amongst the ordinarily folks like everyone else.

Coming back to the Malfoy manor, had made Narcissa realised and longed for missed the freedon she had months ago.

For Lucius, having his heart broken had left him a bitter man. He had been enraged at first, shouting snapping at everyone but gradually, he began to feel numb and felt empty.

Draco knew his parents were no longer shared the same bed let alone slept in the same room. He knew late at night when his parents had thought he already went to bed, his father would sneaked out of his chamber and headed to the library. Sometimes he did work there; other times he slept in there.

Draco also knew the reason why his parents hadn't say a word about it was all because of him. They wanted him to be happy that his family was finally reunited.

What none of his parents knew, was that Draco had seen and heard enough to know their marriage was suffering and their family was falling apart.

So, he did what he thought he knew best - inviting Miss Rollins to the ball.

Thought Draco did not know where the young woman had gone off to when she'd left his father before Severus had told him, he could only prayed and put faith in Severus to persuade her enough to come to the ball.

When she shown up, Draco had then arranged for the rest of the night for just the two of them. First, he had arranged for Luna Lovegood to accompany her and to keep her away from seeing his father and vice versa.

Till this very seconds, Draco wondered how easily the young girl had agreed on helping him with his plans without asking why.

Then,he'd made sure Rollins had her favourite drink. He insisted the bar was filled with all kind of Roselle drinks.

Afterwards, after the opening ceremony, he had arranged for the space to be cleared out for the dance, and only then did he subtly pointed out that he thought he saw someone with a familiar face like Miss Rollins sitting at the bar.

His father had merely glared at him but chose to ignore his words.

For a moment, Draco had thought his plans had failed. It wasn't until he was left alone with those noisy geezers when he'd realised his father had walked toward the 'Miss Rollins look alike' and had offered her to dance to the next song.

Which Draco had also knew, happened to be her favourite song as well - all thanks to Severus.

And so as Draco watched Lucius danced with Miss Rollins, even if he still reluctant to accept the fact that this young girl who was young enough to be his own sister, Draco could clearly see now that they both were in love.

 **I do not owned the song. Song used in this chapter is "I'll be" by Edwin McCain.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Shoutouts to:**

 **notwritten: Hi love! Haven't heard from you for a while. I'm hope you're doing okay and glad you're still reading this story :) This chapter is for you! Enjoy and cheers!**

 **Chapter 20: Elementals**

 **T** **HE** time was now nine o'clock sharp at night. Many people were still at the premier party of Severus Snape's latest fragrance, _Mémoire._

Celebrities were busily mingled with the fragrance's Company productions in hope to get free sample of the said item. Paparazzi were busily snapping pictures of the famous people at the ball left and right.

The Wizarding communities were also busily mingled with the Muggles; some of them even enjoyed themselves dancing on the dance floor with the Muggles at the country-pop song by an American famous country singer.

All in all, it was a good night for everyone who was at the ball.

All except for one.

 _It's not right  
It's not fair  
What you're missing over there  
Someday I'll find a way to show you  
Just how lucky I am to know you_

Claire sang the lyric to one her favourite song that was blasting in the ballroom. She was at the Hotel's beautiful outdoor garden, sitting alone under the Oak Tree.

After her unexpected dance with the last man she wanted to see tonight, and to her another favourite song nonetheless, Claire had politely excused herself and quickly fled from the scene before Lucius could say another word.

She had been avoiding him since then. Decided that she needed some fresh air and away from the people at the moment, Claire went out to the ground floor's outdoor garden.

Claire sighed.

She had been prepared for tonight, to face him. Unfortunately, she had not been prepared to be thrown in the spotlight and danced with him! Good grief, she almost had a heart attack when she had turned around to see Lucius Malfoy was the one who offered her to dance!

"Just when I was ready to move on with my life..." Claire lamented softly.

"Do you really?"

Claire screamed shortly before quickly turning around to find the same man she had danced earlier, was standing behind her.

"Lucius!" She put one hand at her rapid heart. "I swear one of these days, you will be the death of me."

Lucius wasn't amused by her words. Instead, he looked at her with forlorn eyes.

Feeling awkward, Claire got up on her feet and briefly get rid of the dirts and grass that were on her dress. She refused to look at him.

"Miss Rollins." Lucius spoke with a calm voice. "Miss Rollins, would you care to at least look at me? Please."

Claire slowly lifted her head and looked at him.

' _He looks different. He lose a few weight, though. But he does looks well and calmer compared to all those months ago. Figures. His family has reunited.'_ Claire thought sadly.

"I'm in the process of getting my marriage to Narcissa terminated."

That got her full attention.

"What?" Claire looked at him with big widened eyes.

"I said, I'm getting my marriage to Narcissa terminated, Miss Rollins."

"But you can't!"

"And prey tell, why couldn't I?"

"Because it's against the law, isn't it? Married couples in the Wizarding World can't simply dissolved their marriage as they are tied together to the holy unbreakable bind until Death tears them apart. That is why taking in Mistresses or have an open relationship is allowed in the Wizarding community."

"Interesting you would know all these stuff in the first place, Miss Rollins. Tell me, do you intend on marrying a wizard in the near future? Is that the reason why you looked up on the Wizarding Laws?"

Claire's cheeks turned bright pink.

"It's not that at all." She grumbled. "I had nothing else to read when I lived with Severus at his home for the whole two months after the... _Incident._ The only books I had not read were the Laws on his top shelves."

Lucius had to control himself not to grin. Maintaining a cold and hard façade was hard when she looked extremely cute with her blushed cheeks.

Clearing his throat, Lucius said, "I see. Well, you are correct on the Laws, of course. However, Miss Rollins, there is something you do not know about the Wizarding Marriage Law: Only couples who truly loved each other would be tied to the Holy unbreakable binds until the day they both shall die. Narcissa and I however, made a Repelling Vow against the bind on the night of our wedding, before the consummation."

Claire could no longer heard the loud music at the background.

"I don't understand..."

"Of course, it's illegal to make a Repelling Vow. But you see, Miss Rollins, Narcissa's and I, our marriage was solely based on our families' interest. We were the only ones who are compatible with each other compared to the other Pure-Blood partners. Of course, we worked well together as a couple. However, there is no deep love between us other than respect and devotion. In addition, Narcissa had confessed to me that for years she had longed for freedom and was only granted when she had stayed with her older sister. Because of her faithfulness and loyalty to me in the past years, it is my duty as her husband, that I set her free and grant her only wish. Hence, we went to the Ministry's office earlier yesterday to dissolve our marriage. All we need to do now is wait for the paperworks to be approved by Minister Shacklebolt."

"Wait. Narcissa wanted to be freed from you? From the marriage?"

"Yes. Free from being burdened by her family's responsibilities. It may sound a bit uncanny to you, but Narcissa has been following her family's wishes at an early age of eleven. All Pure-blood high-class families do that to their children in order to preserve the Pure-Blood bloodlines."

Claire slowly nodded. She began to understand and felt sorry for Narcissa. No child would like to be pressured by their parents to be married, let alone to be married to the person of their parents' chosen and not their own.

"What about you, Lucius?" Claire asked a moment later. "What do you want?"

Dark grey eyes looked at her straight in the eyes.

He didn't need to say the word. She could feel it from the way he gazed her.

"You." Lucius took a couple steps forward.

"Lucius..."

"The only one I ever want in this world is you, Claire Rollins. You, the Temptress who rules my mind and dared to leave me empty. You who conquered this cold heart of mine.

"Lucius!" Claire backed away.

" _You._ Just you."

Unexpectedly, Lucius grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into his arms.

* * *

 **Time** seemed to have stopped the moment Lucius pulled her into his arms and held her tightly, as if she would disappeared again if he didn't.

"I'm a total wreck. I can't eat. I can't sleep. I can't even close my bloody eyes without seeing you in my mind. I can't do anything without you. I'm addicted to you... My beautiful Claire." Lucius tightened his held.

Claire's knees were literally shaking.

"I want to be happy. I know I don't deserve it, with all the horrible things I've done in the past, I truly don't deserve you, Claire. I am already out of my mind. I know I said before, that I won't stand in your way should you chose another man, but I no longer want to share you. I'll make you happy, Claire. So don't leave me... Never leave me again..."

 _My heart... Feels like it's jumping out of my body... At the sweet words he said to me.._

Claire closed her eyes.

Lifting her arms, she finally wrapped her hands around him.

* * *

" **Aw,** we've just missed the good part!" Draco Malfoy grunted lowly at the balcony overlooking the couple below.

"I didn't." Willy grinned widely. He couldn't get rid the grin off his face even if someone had punched him across the face.

Standing in between them, Severus Snape let out a long concerned sigh.

"Are you sure this will all ends well? What I meant is, he's a Malfoy, and she's a Muggle. Hearing Narcissa was surprisingly taking everything well, and you, Draco. I'm still in shock to be frank, that you would support them like this, the Pure-Blood Community won't be taking this very _lightly._ Especially on Rollins."

"I know." Draco looked down at the couple still embracing each other.

"If I hadn't seen it for myself how much Father loves her, if I hadn't witnessed it myself how losing her really affected him; leaving him with a truly broken heart and nearly sent him to insanity, or how my parents' marriage has truly fallen apart, and the only reason why they are still _pretending_ everything is fine and well all because of me, I wouldn't have encouraged them like this. But I knew. I knew none of my parents are happy with each other. So I had to do the right thing. I had to set them both free, tell them the truth and let them chose their own ways. That's why... Even if I'm still reluctant to accept my father's relationship with a Muggle, fact is, I love my father. If having Miss Rollins in his life makes him happy, then seeing him happy makes _me_ happy. And my mother, if setting her free makes her happy, then I will be happy for her as well."

Snape patted the young Malfoy's shoulder. He felt proud of the young man and could sense how much he had matured and grown after the war. No longer was he the ignorant little runt who always relied on his Father's protections.

"And you're quite right, Snape." Willy suddenly spoke. "The Pure-Blood communities won't be as kind to my dear Claire as we are. However, that's the reason why we are here, isn't it? We shall be the ones to protect her from their nasty and snotty attitudes, won't we?"

Both men firmly nodded.

"For the sake of my Father, I will do anything."

"Good! That's the spirit! And say, even if it turns out not to be a happy ending for them, in the end, as for now, I think it's the best way from them to be."

They all nodded agreed with Willy's statement.

* * *

 **LUCIUS** was the one who released her first. He lifted her chin, much to Claire's surprise as she was not expecting it, and slowly brought her face forward.

Their lips almost touched each other had it wasn't for the sound of the noisy and annoying buzzing sound on the top of their head.

A dark blue beetle.

Lucius flapped his hand, wanted to get rid of the beetle but it won't go away.

"Get lost, you pathetic insect before I decide to kill you!"

"Wait, Lucius!" Claire grabbed his flapping hand from killing the beetle.

"You are not against me killing this annoying beetle, do you Claire?"

"I'm not. However, I do believe the beetle isn't unlike any other beetle." Turning to the said Beetle who was flying on top of her head now, Claire said, "You're Rita Skeeter, aren't you? I saw a photo of you in a jug that Hermione kept you in."

The Beetle made a noise before it flew across them and changed it's form.

"How unpleasant surprise that you knew who I was, Miss Claire Rollins. Or is it 'Madam Malfoy' now?" Rita looked at the younger woman shrewdly. "Pity to have such a beautiful face, but very cheap dignity."

Lucius stepped in between the two women, facing Rita.

"Talk to her like that again, and I'll make sure you'll get fired and won't be able to find any decent job. Ever."

Rita snorted and rolled her eyes. "Please, Mr. Malfoy. With your reputation after the war, you don't _scare_ me, let alone a fly."

Lucius' face grew red from anger. He was ready to burst if Claire hadn't stepped forward and shielded him from the obnoxious witch.

"What do you want, Rita Skeeter? If you're only here to harass us, kindly leave at once while you still can."

Rita looked at the couple before she glanced at her surroundings.

"Let me tell you something... The reason why I took the risk of coming here is because this whole place is protected by a barrier spell. The moment I walked out of this place however, I have no doubt my life will be in grieve danger."

"What are you talking about?" Lucius asked.

Rita didn't answered. Instead, she looked at the two of them.

Crossing her arms, she said, "Which is why I want protection from all of you."

"From whom?" Said a baritone voice coming toward them.

Severus, Draco and Willy had been watching earlier and the moment Rita transformed to her human self, the trio had rushed downstairs to the garden.

"From the enemy, of course. The one whom you have been seeking for months without any success."

"What makes you think we trust you anything you said so easily?"

Rita shrugged. She handed a large envelope to Severus.

"Inside, you will see many proofs and articles I have gathered." She didn't let go when Severus took it. "I want my protection. Are we clear?"

"We shall see." Severus roughly pulled it from her grasp and began to look through the many papers inside the envelope with Draco.

"While they both are going through with your stuff, I shall determine and see whether you're telling the truth or not." Willy spoke up, standing in front of her.

"You are not using Legilimency on me, are you? I forbid it!" Rita protested.

"Oh, I don't need to dear. In fact, I've already did it." Willy smiled brightly before turning his back at her and faced everyone.

"She's telling the truth. Also, there is something about the papers..." Willy went to Severus who was busily looking through the piles of papers in his hands.

Meanwhile, Draco looked astonished at what just happened.

"When did he... Used _Legilimency_ on her?"

"That's the Wonka's speciality, if you have to know." Claire explained. "The 'Time-Stopper. He is able to stop the time and even space as he wishes. What he had just done to Miss Skeeter was the example of it." Claire showed her her watch.

Five minutes had passed by.

"Astonishing!" Rita breathlessly.

"It seems, Miss Skeeter, that you have proven yourself to be truthful for once in your life." Severus said as a matter of fact. "You've gotten yourself a deal. However, you will need to stay here at the hotel until we can ensure you whoever is threatening your life is no longer a threat. Thank Merlin they've given me the Penthouse Suite."

Claire and Lucius raised an eyebrow at the mention of Penthouse Suite but didn't say a word.

Claire looked at her watch again and softly gasped. "Oh my... It's already half past ten! I should best get going."

"I shall send you home." Lucius offered.

"In that case, I shall leave her in your capable hands." Willy spoke calmly. "I will be spending time helping with the case here. I don't think I will be back very soon tonight. So if you could.."

"Of course." Lucius nodded. He then looked at his son. "Will you be staying too, Draco?"

"If it's not too troublesome, I'd much rather if he stays. Is that okay with you, Lucius?" Severus said.

Draco looked at his former professor than to his father.

"Of course. At least owl or tell your mother you won't be coming home tonight. At least Severus' room is big enough for all of you to sleep in."

"Yes, Father."

"Now then, Claire. Shall we?"

* * *

 **THEY** used the back door of the hotel to escape the wild papparazi. Instead of apparating at her front door, Claire suggested they took a stroll to her home, which Lucius agreed.

The couple, now reunited again, walked together side by side and holding hands.

Come to think of it, this was perhaps the first time they walked together in public as a couple.

The last time Lucius had walked her home was after their second date and first outing, when she had kissed him for the very first time.

All the sudden, Claire blushed at the thought and what had happened a moment ago.

Lucius had almost kissed her if it wasn't fo Rita.

 _Speaking of which..._

"What are you thinking about?" Lucius asked smoothly.

"Rita Skeeter."

"What?" He nearly shouted at the otherwise empty road.

"I was just wandering if she would do or say anything that would sabotage our relationship. After all, she did see that we'd almost..." She turned to look at Lucius who only raised an eyebrow at her.

He stopped, so did she.

Lucius brought both hands on her face and softly stroke her cheeks

"Almost what?" He asked, teasily.

Claire's face was bright red and she was sure it was hot. Damn him. How could he did this to her?

"Forgive me. I can't hear what you're saying..." He brought his lips closed to her.

"I said _'kissed'_..." Claire closed her eyes slowly.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as their lips touched softly.

At the background, there were few couples shouted at them to find a room. But none of the two cared what was said to them.

They had been missing each other for far too long, by the time their lips broke away, all they could see, was that love was reflecting in each other's eyes.

It didn't take them long to arrive at the front door of Claire's flat. As soon as she opened the door, Lucius suddenly pulled her away, much to Claire's own surprise.

As soon as she was being pulled away, something came forward and hit on the front door, burst it into pieces.

Claire gawked at the broken door. She turned to look at the culprit - who wore a deep red robe with a Death Eater's mask, and was playfully holding his wand.

"You've broken my bloody door!" Lucius pulled her to get behind him immediately, with his wand already pointed out at the culprit.

"Get away from here as fast as you can."

"I'm not going to leave-"

"Go! NOW!"

Claire studied his face carefully before nodded her head. Reluctantly, she ran out, leaving him behind with a heavy heart.

"Now then..." Lucius took his place in battle. Raising his wand that was still pointed at the culprit.

"Shall we dance?"

Lucius threw the first Curse spell at the culprit and engaged in battle.

* * *

 **While** Lucius was battling upstairs, on the second floor, Claire had managed to get to the lower ground of the flat using the staircase.

Claire was halfway running toward the exit when she abruply halt as another Death-Eater appeared at the exit.

It was a female this time, wearing the same dark red robe as her previous accomplish. However, unlike the culprit earlier, this Death-Eater does not took out nor carries a wand.

Claire looked at her enemy, the only obstacle that was standing between her and the exit.

"What? No wand?" Claire tauted.

The Death-Eater shook her head. She instead, raised one hand in the air and a ball of energy force gathered at her hand.

Claire remained alert and frowned. Her legs were twitching to run.

From above, she could hear Lucius' battle cries. She immediately worried about him.

At her lack of concentration, the Death-Eater took the chance to throw the energy ball at her.

Claire dodged the ball at the very last minute, caused the staircase's door behind her to scatter after being hit by the energy ball. She looked at the scattered door in horror. That could have been her very head had she not avoided it in time!

Looking at the Death-Eater who, Claire could clearly see her grinning behind the mask, Claire gritted her teeth and clenched her knuckles.

"You don't play fair, do you?"

The Death-Eater simply shrugged at her question.

"Alright..." Claire took a deep breath. "Bring it on then!"

* * *

 **"Elementals?** You mean like Elementalists?" Draco asked.

He put down a stack of heavy books he brought from the manor on the desk beside the sitting Severus, who was scrambling something on a piece of patchment.

"Correct. What is the differences between Elementals and Elementalists?"

Draco thought for a little while.

"Well Sir, I do know Elementals are wizards or witches who are able to control one of the five elements; Water, Earth, Fire, Air or Quintessence. There are only five at one time and their spirits are reincarnated after they die to produce five more elementals. So far, there are only ten known elementals as the rest did not make their powers known to the wizarding world..."

"Excellent. How about Elementalist?"

"Elementalist are people, not necessarily Wizards or witches that are also able to control the elements. Unlike the Elementals, Elementalist can be taught to practise the use of the elements. Even muggles are able to practise it with the guidance of an Elemental Master."

"Brilliant, Draco." Snape raised from his seat, bringing the patchment he had written on earlier and walked toward Rita Skeeter who was sitting at one of the many sofa seats in the room, sipping on a hot cup of tea.

"Tell me, what made you think the Elementalists are the ones who are responsible behind everything that's happenin lately?"

Rita snorted. "Why ever not? It's no secret that Harry Potter and his little band 'Merry men have captured the leftovers Death Eaters. With your and Malfoy's leads, of course. But they're the ones who have taken most credits."

Severus narrowed his eyes at her.

"Answer the question, Miss Skeeter."

"Well alright." Rita sighed. "I began my research on Elementalist when I found an uncanny similiarities between 'Madam R' and the Death-Eaters that Potter has captured recently."

"Prey tell, what is it?"

"Elements. When Potter has captured Ian Walker, his robe was covered with ice."

"Surely that couldn't possibly be the real reason-"

"It was bloody Summer. Then, when Ronald Weasley brought in Xian Markenzi, the lad's skin was on fire that was as hot as the bloody sun! The whole department on the Fourth Floor of had to be brought in to treat the lad for the 'suspected' Spell Damage."

Rita flipped one papers from the stacks and brought it toward her.

"Neville Longbottom captured Sila Mitten, who had him strangled using a tomatoes vines."

"George Weasley captured Tino Lion, who sparked electricity from his _tongue._ Honestly, aren't any of these things sound a bit suspicious to you at the very least?"

"Now that you've put it that way, it does. Are they are all Elementalists?" Said Draco, agreeing.

"Yes. Based on the data and resources. However, I strongly advised you not waste your time focusing on them as they are nothing but just low rank servants. It's the Natural-born Elementals you should be more concerned off."

"..And you know this because?" Severus asked.

Rita kept quiet. She glanced from left to right from the corner of her eyes, before she whispered in a lowly voice.

"Madam R is one of them - the Natural-born Elementals. What's worse, she's the combination of him and probably an Elemantal practistor somewhere..."

"You've mentioned this 'him' several times now, Miss Skeeter. Could you at least tell us who he is now? We've already secured this whole building with powerful barrier." Willy said, assuringly.

The moment after he had said that, Rita abruptly stood up.

She looked wildly at each one of them in the eyes.

Six chilling words came out of her mouth made them gasped.

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

* * *

 **THE** waterpipe burst as it got hit by an energy force sent by the female Death-Eater.

Claire's beautiful dress had been torn apart, especially the lowe parts.

She had few bruises on her arms and thights, few cuts on her chin and lips from the assaults; ones that she couldn't avoid.

Her dress and partly her face was covered by mud and dirts.

Claire was pissed.

Until now she couldn't do anything but avoid getting hit by the damn energy balls aimed at her.

Well not this time!

She had it. She had enough of it!

Glaring sharply at her assaulter, Claire stood in a guard stance.

Meanwhile, Claire's assaulter watched in amusement. She had thought the foolish target would be an easy target to kill. However, the Muggle proven to her that it took more than just energy balls to squash her.

She had a tenacity of a crockroach.

 _'No matter.'_ The Death-Eater smirked.

Rising her hand in the air again, instead of summoning an energy ball, the ball that was in her had slowly changed its colour to fury red.

Fireball.

Claire gulped in horror. She had been ready getting hit for the damn energy ball not this!

One hit on her skin will burned her alive.

Her left leg subconsciously stepped back and she felt the cold water from the broken waterpipe running down her spine.

The fireball getting bigger, until it was the size of a football.

Without warning, the Death-Eater threw the fireball at her.

Then, it felt as if everything began to move in slow motion.

Claire backed away, ignoring the burst of waterfalls from the pipe.

The water running down on her spine suddenly moved in a soft flow and circular her waist.

All the sudden, Claire felt a surge coming from within her.

Just as the fireball was about to hit her, Claire's dark brown eyes suddenly changed to baby blue.

Claire raised her hand in the air and the running water quickly turned to a wall of ice and created a shield around her.

It protected her from the incoming fireball.

The Death-Eater subconsciously took a step back. Shock and surprised were clearly evidently based on her body language by Claire's action.

 _'Impossible! She couldn't possibly_ -'

Before the Death-Eater could say anything else, she was attacked by ice shards heading toward her. The Death-Eater quickly dodged, causing the shards to hit the lower part of Claire's flat, and created a big hole.

The flat now in a disaster zone. The building was shaking tremblemously, the second floor, where Claire's home, was precautiously still standing and only supported by whatever remaining pillars left.

Meanwhile, the first and lower ground were a great mess. The big hole at the lower part of the building, had caused the residents to flee from their homes in pure horror and terrific at what suddenly just happened.

Claire's eyes reverted back to its normal colour and she looked at the chaos she had done.

"Oh no!" Death-Eater forgotten, she rushed back.

"Lucius!" Claire shouted, before gasping in horror as the said man was hanging for his life on the cliff of the building from falling down to his death. His wand was nowhere to be seen, nor did the Death-Eater he had been battling with earlier before the distruption.

"Lucius, hang on!" Desperate to save her love and not caring if everyone was watching her, Claire lifted her hands in the air again.

 _Nothing._

Nothing happened.

From far distance, she could hear Lucius screamed painfully as his arms began to give up.

"What should I do? What should I do?" Panic began to arise within Claire. Time was ticking. With Lucius hanging for his dear life right nw, it's too late for her to wait for the Fire and Rescue Department to come and save him!

Again, she heard Lucius cried out painfully.

"Lucius.."

Lucius could no longer hold onto the cliff any longer...

The building shook as the first floor began to fall.

He unexpectedly let go of his hands.

"LUCIUS!"

Claire ran with bare feet as fast as her feet could carried her. She forced herself to go faster and prepared herself to dive in to catch him in time.

 _3..._

 _2.._

 _1.._

Claire dove in just in time as Lucius fell and landed on her.

His heavy weight, combined with the pressure when he fell, nearly knocked Claire out unconscious.

Claire coughed and shook her head. She looked at the older man whom she had her arms half-wrapped around his neck.

Lucius had been out of breath himself. The impact of his falling on top of the younger woman, caused him to feel a bit nausea.

Looking at his young beautiful love who looked like she had just came back from the war, Lucius raised one hand and touche the dried blood from a small cut on her left cheek.

"Thank you."

Claire smiled wearily.

Wordlessly, she helped him to get up on his feet, and together, they walked away from the building finally crumpled down.

 **A/N: The song used for this chapter is "The way you love me" by Faith Hills. I owned nothing of the song whatsover. All copyrights goes to the artist and recording company. Also, I came across HP fandom wiki site while I was doing some search and decided to use the Elementals in the site to fit into the story.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Shoutouts to:**

 **Moka-girl: Heyyaa! Thank a lot for the advices you've given me. It really helps ;) I hope you will enjoy this chapter.**

 **BeraniandSeverus4ever: Heyya girl! I'm so happy to know you've enjoyed the chapter so far, lol the expression you've written about Lucius really made my day XD. I hope you like this chapter! There's a surprise toward the end~ Enjoy!**

 **notwritten: Thanks for your neverending support~ hope you will like this chapter :D**

 **Chapter 21 Overdrive**

 **A** **FTER** the unexpected encounter with a couple of Death-Eaters at her now wrecked Sheffield home, Claire and Lucius managed to drag themselves back to the hotel where Severus and the others were staying.

It had been a miracle the guards would even let them in. Though, Claire suspected even in his injured state, Lucius had cast a spell on him.

It was Draco who opened the door to Severus' Suite Room. Boy, what a shocker the young Malfoy must have felt when he saw them in their disastrous state!

Draco immediately urged them to come inside, and while they were being given medical treatments by Willy and Severus, Claire then explained to them what had happened.

After her buzzard explanation, Rita Skeeter began her own explanation and theories about the Elementals and Elementalists and their connections with their enemy.

When she mentioned the Dark Lord's name and the possibility that he might bore a child during his lifetime, which caused both Severus and Lucius rejected the possibility almost immediately.

"Impossible! We both had been working closely with him. If say, what you're saying were the truth, Skeeter, then either Severus or myself would be the first to be aware of the Dark Lord's secret child!"

"I understand that. However, gentlemen, let's think of outside of the box for a moment, shall we?" Willy said kindly.

"Say if what were being said by Miss Skeeter here were all the truth; that the previous Dark Lord had bore a secret child. Perhaps even the Dark Lord himself didn't want anyone including you two - his most Loyal _servants_ to know about it? Perhaps he didn't want the child in the first place? Or maybe, he did introduce the child to you two, subconsciously speaking by the way. Is there anything that you could remember it happened?"

Lucius shook his head.

"I regret to say after my mission to retrieve the prophecy had ultimately failed me, I was sent to Azkaban, before I'd escaped from there."

His eyes met with Claire's in great shame for his past's works. However, the young Muggle had simply smiled wearily at him.

Meanwhile, Severus had been thinking thoughtfully, had suddenly stood up and walked around the occupied room in circle.

"There was a time... Lucius, do you remember there had been a time where a little girl, was seen constantly by the Dark Lord's side. Years ago, sometime during the First Wizarding War. Everyone had thought the Dark Lord has taken a child bride due to his close relationship with the child. However, none of us were brave enough to ask or confront him about it. Could she be the one?"

Draco retrieved some of Rita's handy researches and put it on the table at the centre for everyone to see. He proceeded by reading out aloud the important documents which he and Severus had gathered earlier; clues that would hopefully helped them solved the identity of 'Madam R.'

"I'm sure we are all tired and ready to retreat for the night, especially you Father, and Miss Rollins. However, before we all do, please hear me out to what I have to say. Forget about who the Madam R for a moment, ye? We won't be able to find any clues about her at this moment anyway." He took a deep breath, held his gaze at Severus who had nodded his head, before he proceeded.

"Snape and I have found something interesting to share with all of you. As most of us know, Elementals are very rare amongst the Wizarding society, mainly because they would lose it when they reached their eleventh birthday. Same goes with the Elementalists. However, it seemed there were two Muggle-born Elementalists who were also the Apprentices to a great Elemental Master; Master Gou."

Draco handed them a piece of paper.

"Sofia Calham and Edward Stoney. Amongst all of the students taught by Master Gou, these two were chosen by the Master himself to learn the Art of Elements and also to become his Apprentices."

"Brilliant!" Lucius clapped his hands. "I'll take it the only thing we need to do now is to find these two and hopefully they could explain why Claire had experiencing before?"

"Well, that was the ideal, Father. However, it would takes us a week, at the very least to be able to track these two down. I shall be going with Snape and-"

Draco had being cut by the man himself who had raised a hand at him.

"No. On second thought... Perhaps, Lucius should come along with me instead."

"Pardon?"

Snape leaned himself against the desk, with his arms crossed. He looked straight into the older man's eyes.

"Your Marriage will be terminate within three months, isn't that right, Lucius?"

Lucius stared back thinly at the man. Just what games was he playing? With Severus Snape one could never really tell what he was up to.

Lucius folded his own arms and puffed his chest toward his old friend.

"Yes. Shacklebolt had just confirmed with me that it will take at least three months for the marriage to be approved and terminated.."

"Good. Then, I suggest until you are officially a free man, Lucius, to keep your distant away from Miss Rollins."

"What are you saying, old friend?"

Severus sighed. "Miss Rollins has been targeted by these new enemies for some unknown reason. For all you know, the one who is targeting her is one of _your_ die-hard fans. Be cautious, Lucius. We'll leave at dawn. I suggest you get some rest."

Severus gave his friend a slight nod before he walked passed him and discussed something with Draco.

Damn him. Lucius had planned on letting his young love know about it soon.

For her to be found out like. After what they had just reconciled their love..

Lucius looked up to Claire, who was talking to Wonka with her back facing him and had absolutely no idea what had been exchanged between the two wizards.

"Miss Claire."

Claire turned her head around.

"Yes?"

"May we have a word?"

Claire blinked a couple of times before nodding her head.

"Sure."

Lucius took her to the balcony before shutting the door. The air was cold and quiet. The time was now two o'clock in the morning.

Claire had to pull the jacket Willy had lend it to her when they had arrived earlier, closer to her body for some heat.

"What do you want to talk about?"

Lucius took a deep breath. "Claire... About what Severus had said earlier, I had never, not even once intended not to tell you about it. Shacklebolt had informed me right after we've discussed about Skeeter. I couldn't find the right time to-"

"Wait," Claire interrupted him. "Hold on for a moment here, Lucius. What are you talking about?"

Lucius took a deep breath. He looked straight into her eyes as he spoke. "Shacklebolt had just informed me that my marriage termination would only be progressed within three months."

"Oh." Claire managed to say.

Honestly, she did not know what else to say. The moment Lucius had stated he was getting his marriage to Narcissa terminated, or in Muggle's world, _divorced_ , Claire knew things wouldn't sailed smoothly.

Thought his reasons for divorcing his wife was by far, a unique one, still there ought to be obstacles.

Claire understood clearly that she ought to be patient and thick-skinned if she really wanted to be with Lucius. So how was he looking at her like he'd just committed a horrible crime?

"Lucius?" At his name being called, Lucius straightened up. "Uh, I don't _mind_ waiting, if that's what worries you."

His dark grey eyes looked interestedly at her. Claire pulled strings of her hair behind her left ear.

"Listen. I know getting your marriage divorced, sorry, _terminated,_ isn't an easy task. I get that. Believe me, I do. I've watched married couples falling apart on their marriage plenty of times before... I don't know what Severus might have said to you, but I'll wait for you."

Claire smiled warmly at him.

"I'll definitely wait for you."

It all happened too fast. Before Claire could do anything, she felt herself being pulled into his arms in a tight embrace all the while thanking her for her kind words.

The next morning, Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy left the hotel in search for the two Elementalist Apprentices.

* * *

 **EACH** morning since that night after Lucius and Severus had gone for their mission two weeks ago, Claire Rollin's daily routine had been: waking up early in the morning, went to work with Willy until late evening, come home to the Willy's private manor (since Narcissa insisted on living at the manor until her marriage was officially being terminated), and have a private tutoring with Draco Malfoy about 'Basic Elementarily Magic' and, under Snape's strict instruction, Potions.

The ex-Potion Master believed that though Claire was a Muggle, it would benefits her in one way or another if she was to be taught about Potions.

And so, day in and out, after Claire was done with her dinner, she would spend her nights burning candles after candles in the Library, reading books about Elementarily Magic or be at the dungeon with Draco doing Potions.

The topic that she was currently studying was 'Elements and Elementalists' and how the element magic damage affinity works.

Darkness is weak against Light.

 _That's a given._ Claire briefly thought.

Fire is weak against Wind. Wind is weak against Earth.

Earth is weak against Lightning.

Lightning is weak against Water..

Water is weak against Fire...

Claire studied them until she could no longer be able to open her eyes any more. Her feet would automatically dragged her body to the bed. She fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

Two weeks passed by peacefully. Before Claire knew, it was Sunday.

 _Priittt...Priiitt...Pritttt...Priiittttttttt.._

Claire groaned at the annoying sound of her alarm clock waking her up. Her hand aimlessly reached out for the alarm clock beside her bed. Once found, Claire then, threw it on the floor.

"Stupid clock... It's my day off.. Lemme sleep in dammit..." Claire mumbled, while buried her face deeply into the pillow.

"I couldn't agree more." Came a deep male voice from her left.

At first, Claire didn't move. Then, slowly, she pulled her blanket and opened one eye to look at the person who was lying down beside her on the bed.

Lucius.

He wore the pyjamas that she had brought for him last Christmas. The man looked worn out from the trip.

Claire blinked her eyes a few times before she yawned and tightened the blanket wrapped around her. She wore thin night gown and immediately felt self-conscious with him laying so close, barely touching her.

Raising one hand, she massaged his scalp and caressed softly long blonde locks.

"How long have you been here?"

Lucius softly sighed as he gave in to her touch.

"Since dawn. Came back around five o'clock in the morning. Ate an early breakfast, took a shower, and then come here."

Claire smiled. "I see. How was the trip? Good, I hope?"

Lucius sighed again. "It was hard. Fortunately, we've found what we were looking for."

"You've found Sofia Calham and Edward Stoney then?"

"Unfortunately, they both died years ago. The good news is that we've found another Apprentice of Master Gou's."

"That's a relief! Anything else?"

"Yes," Lucius opened one eye and looked at her. "We learned from the Apprentice that Sofia and Edward gotten married sometimes later and had a child. A daughter."

"Really? You've met with her? Maybe she could helps us out."

Lucius chuckled deeply. He leaned toward her, and whispered sensually at her ears.

"I'm _looking_ at her."

Claire's eyes grown widened. Instantly she sat up on her bed and looked at him bewilderedly.

"Me?!"

* * *

 **Draco** was reading the Daily Prophet at the dining room, seated beside Severus who was silently eating the cereal, his second round of breakfast, and Willy at the head table when Claire showed up, looking fresh and fully awake. Lucius was standing behind her.

"Is it true, Severus? My biological parents were both the Elemental Master's Apprentices?"

Severus munched his food and looked up at her. His eyes moved from Claire to Lucius.

"You've told her?"

Lucius shrugged. "She asked. Quite persistently, if I may add."

Severus put down his spoon and tapped the empty seat beside him. Claire wordlessly went over to the seat and sat down. Her gaze never left him.

Severus cleared his throat.

"If you think about it now, it explained perfectly as how you were able to create the ice shield during the assault against the unnamed Death Eater weeks ago. It's in your blood."

"B-But that's impossible! I _know_ my birth parents' names and they are not Calham or Stoney!"

"Ah, that's another thing. You see, your birth parents were smart people. In order to protect their identities, they had created new names for themselves that was taken from their own names."

Claire looked at Severus as if he had spurt a horn on his forehead.

"What's your birth mother's full name, Miss Rollins?"

"Jamie-Ann Sophia Lacham."

And your father?"

"Teyson E. Drumble."

Severus nodded. "Good. Now make another name using 'Lacham' and 'Teyson', and it will became 'Calham' and 'Stoney'. The letter 'E' in your father's name stands for what, Miss Rollins?"

"...Edward." Claire stumbled on her seat. "OH MY GOD!"

"If you are still don't believe me, go ahead and ask you dear godfather over there. I'm sure _he_ knows a lot more than he actually let on."

Willy stiffed at the head table as all eyes were on him. Claire suddenly remember that he was a Seer.

"Willy, is it true? Were my birth parents an Elementalists? I need to know, Willy, _please."_

Willy sighed deeply. "My dear child, there are things that I've been dying to tell you but I simply _can't,_ not because I don't want to, but because I have my own responsibility as a Seer: that is to never interrupted fate's decision or destiny."

"So you knew about the attack that happened weeks ago?" Draco asked.

"I did. I knew there would be Death-Eaters attack, however I had no idea whatsoever it would involved Claire or even your father, lad."

"Why didn't you warn us beforehand then? We could have set a trap or two or _something!"_ Severus hissed.

"Like I've just said, as a Seer, I have a responsibility not to interfer with Fate's plans or Destiny. You may be angry with me right now, but this is what supposed to happen in order for something greater to happen in the future!"

Tensions grew in the air. Claire wasn't much in a mood to eat any of her breakfast after hearing the shocking revealing about her birth parents.

Now that she thought about it, Severus was right. Certain things did matched up. Amongst otherthings that made sense was when Claire had seen her younger self encountered with the Dark Lord when he tried to kill her.

"Miss Claire?"

Claire snapped out from her deep thoughts.

"Yes?"

"Do pay attention if you will, Claire. This is rather important." Severus chided her.

Claire rolled her eyes at the older man's remarks, but nodded nevertheless.

"After you are done eating, you are to go to the dungeon for a little duel with Draco." The young Malfoy nodded and excused himself.

"He will be duelling with you under my instruction, to see how well you are able to use your Elementarily ability before we send you off to meet up with Master Guo's Apprentice. After I have my rest, we shall began our tutoring lesson on Potions. There are some potions I would like you to learn as well. Do you understand?"

Claire nodded.

"Good. Very well then." Severus got up from his seat and headed to the exit. He went up the staircase and went straight to the room prepared for him.

* * *

 **TEN** minutes later, Claire found herself in a wide and spacious white magic- proof and sound-proof room with transparent glasses. She had changed her attire earlier to a sports black tank tops and a work out pants.

Draco, who had already been waiting and had prepared something for her as well.

"What's this?" Claire pointed at a big bottle of water on the small table.

"Can't you see? It's water."

"I know it's water, _Malfoy_. But what have you put inside it?"

"Nothing. Look, will you just drink it? It's perfectly safe."

Claire eyed him warily before she reluctantly took the bottle and drank it. Slowly at first, when she tasted nothing was particularly wrong with it, she gulped on it.

"I reckon you drink plenty. You'll need it."

Claire drank the whole bottle before putting it back down on table. Draco urshed her to the centre with his wand, before he also took his place on the opposite side.

"Right. The key to this duel is to determine how well you can control your new found ability. We'll start with what you've already able to do: Ice." Waving his wand, Draco summoned a tiny fireball.

"Now I shall throw this fireball at you, and what I want you to do is to prevent it from hitting you by creating an ice shield; like what you had done the other day."

"I don't know if that's a great idea..."

"I'll go easy on you. Ready?" Draco gave a signal to the person who was monitoring and watching them from outside. Willy and even Rita Skeeter were there.

"Here it comes!" He send the small fireball at her. Claire nervously put her hand in the air to summon the ice shield, yet nothing happened.

The fireball vanished in mid-air.

"Let's try again." Draco coughed and got into the position. "Ready?"

* * *

 **Claire** spent the next half an hour trying to create an ice shield, but she was failing miserably at it.

After her fifteenth attempt turned out to be frutile, Draco seemed to be giving up on her.

She was angry at herself, at her lack of ability to create the shield no matter how many times she had followed Draco's instructions:

 _"No, no! You've got it all wrong! Put you hands in the air as if you're touching them and then slowly try to let the magic flow from your fingers."_

Of course, it was easier said than done.

Claire sighed frustratingly.

"We'll take a short break." Draco's voice echoed the room as he walked away.

No doubt he would complained to Willy on how weak she was. He didn't look happy at her last attempt.

Not that she blamed the man. Claire was frustrated herself. She sat on the white floor with her legs crossed in meditation.

With her mind at ease, she tried to recall just what had made her be able to create a sheld made from water that changed to an ice?

She pondered these thoughts for a while, when suddenly, something finally checked in her head.

At that time while she was battling with the Death Eater, she was terrified and desperate to get away.

Desperation and fear.

"Draco!" Claire looked at the transparant glasses where Draco was still talking with Willy. Both men looked up when she had called him.

Draco came out. "What?"

"I think... I know how to make my powers come. But, you ought to listen to me, okay?"

He gave her a strange look.

* * *

 **Lucius** couldn't sleep. No matter how many times he tossed and turned, and scolded himself to go to sleep, he just couldn't. In the end, he found himself at the corridors, climbing down the staircase toward the dungeon where the rest of the mansion's inhabitants.

At the bottom of the stairs, there was a door that would lead to the "Observation Room". Lucius could very well see Wonka and Skeeter in the room, no doubt observing his son and love's duelling.

Just as he was about to head to the Observation Room, Lucius halted when he saw a shadow of a man wore a black robe, was standing beside the transparent glasses, watching intensively with a deep frown on his forehead, at the two people inside of the soundproof and magic proof room.

More importantly, he was watching her.

* * *

 **"You** want me to do WHAT?!" Draco' yelled echoed throughout the spacious room.

"Are you trying to get me killed by my father and Snape, Miss Rollins?"

He narrowed his eyes and glared at her.

"No! Absolutely not! But ponder it for a moment, will you? Why would Severus told you to duel me in the first place?"

Draco roled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Obviously to help you out with your useless mind and incapability of using magic."

Claire didn't take those insults to heart. "Right. And what's better way to make my power comes out in desperate situation like how it had that night?"

Draco pondered a little at her logic. The Muggle had a point. Desperate situation often calls for desperate measurements.

There's only one way to find out.

"Wonka, are you listening to this?"

Willy nodded from the glasses and gave them a thumb up.

Draco groaned. He wouldn't live to see the world should anything bad were to happen to her.

Sighed heavily, he turned to look at the Muggle who was waiting for his answer.

"All right. Fine! Just to be clear, you're doing this willingly and on your own."

"Yes, of course."

Draco took his place, as so Claire.

"Are you sure you won't change your mind?"

"No. I'm positively sure."

He shrugged. "Alright. Here goes nothing." Draco waved his wand in circular before casting a spell.

Instead of summoning one small fireball, he summoned _fifteen_ of them, all in medium size.

"Again, are you _positively_ sure about this?"

 _"Yes!_ Come now, don't be such a wuss."

"Eat this!" With an amazon cried, Draco flicked his wand and swung the fireballs at her all in once.

As the fireballs coming fast toward her, Claire took a deep breath and raised her hand in the air. Her brown eyes turned baby blue.

Summoning her power once again, a wave of something blue shoot out from her palms - heading toward the incoming fireballs.

The fireballs froze. Instead of dropping on the ground like it was expected, the fireball were scattered to pieces.

Draco watched with his mouth gawked at the scene earlier. Almost everyone who watched the scene just now had a more or less facial expression like him. Willy was grinning madly while Rita was giving her a rather less-than- impressive look.

The sound of hands clapping broke the stunning spell around them as Willy approached them.

"Well done! Very well done, my dear! I knew you could do it and I couldn't be even more proud. See, Malfoy? I told you she would get through eventually." Willy smirked.

"Congratulation Miss Rollins. I'll admit it was rather a spectacular performance." Rita said tonelessly.

"T-Thank you.." Claire was hugging herself due to the cold air. Her body was shaking and her lips were turning blue.

"Prey tell, how do you managed to make your power came?"

Claire told them what she had thought on that night; how her fear had gotten the best of her and that her power had somewhat protected her.

"I see. In that case, at least it's an improvement and a great achievement." Willy smiled at her.

"Right! Let's go upstairs and have lunch."

"Is it just me or it's getting colder in here?" Rita pondered aloud.

"I-It's me!"

All eyes turned to the Muggle who by now, was shaking tremendously with paled face and lips. Claire's baby blue eyes had not yet changed to it's original colour.

"Her power is leaking!" Rita shrieked at the sight of the Muggle and the sudden transformation of the now icy ground floor where they were all currently standing. Their legs were iced to the ground as well.

Claire looked terrified. Her power won't stop leaking out. She found herself getting dizzier by a minute.

"Claire dear-" Willy reached out a hand to her but Claire moved away.

"Don't touch me! Please.. I-I'm scared. I don't know how to stop it from leaking.." Tears were forming in her eyes.

"It's okay, love. We'll figure something out. Tell me, do you remember anything on that night that allowed you to revert back to your normal state? Some kind of a trigger perhaps?"

Claire thought for a moment before rapidly she nodded her head.

"Y-yes.. I think. W-when I saw Lucius hanging by the cliff of the collapsing flat, I was deeply in shock. By he time I tried to use my power to save him, I couldn't. "

"That's it! Shock. You need something shockful enough to trigger you."

"You'd better think of something! Or else we'll freeze till death! I can't even apparate in this state!" Draco said shiveringly as he hugged himself.

Since the weather was hot due to the Summer, they were all dressed casually wearing a thin materials to keep them from the heat.

All the sudden, they heard the sound of footsteps clunking its heels on the icy ground.

All eyes were on the person who was approaching them except for Claire, who had her back facing the stranger.

Claire's breathing was hitched when she felt someone roughly pulled her straight up from she was squatting, before a soft chapped lips crushed into hers that immediately send Claire to overdrive.

Every single one of them were shamelessly and openly gawked at the sight!

Rita Skeeter would do anything to get this juicy scoop of how the usually abnoxious ex-Potion Master of Hogwarts was caught kissing the Muggle belonged to the Malfoy's Patriatch right before her very eyes!

'Will it be a love triangle between them? Who would this lucky Muggle choose?' Rita frustratedly groaned at the front title of the Daily Prophet she already had in her mind.

Draco was shocked beyond words and belief. Never in a million years he would ever expect to see his Potion Master to kiss someone, let alone it was a Muggle whom his father fancied and it happened right in front of him!

Draco made a low groan and covered his face with both hands. Maybe spending time with Astoria would help him get rid of the images.

While the two people beside him was groaning painstackingly, Willy Wonka was the one who didn't say anything and simply looked at the greasy black haired man who was still lips locking with his only Goddaughter.

Severus was the first to break the kiss.

"Now we're even." He smirked before taking a step back.

Claire blinked her eyes a few times with a flushed face. The cool was gone. And her eyes, she quickly glance her reflection on the still icy ground - they were back to normal!

"Severus, thank you." Claire looked at him with a shy smile.

Severus shrugged. "You don't think I would casually _kiss_ you all the sudden, did you? Silly girl."

Claire laughed. "You're right! To be honest, I was feeling a bit nervous when you sudden pulled me up and well, kissed me earlier. But we both know your heart only belongs to Lily right?"

For a moment, there was an unreadeable expression in his penetrating eyes, before it was gone.

"Exactly..."

Claire smiled for the last time at him got up on her feet, before dragging Draco to the staircase. Rita snapped out of her thoughts and fumed that they had taken he wand, bag and everything away from her, before she marched toward the door.

* * *

 **WHILE** everyone was still eating their lunch, one man had excused himself early from the table and went to the library's balcony for a new breath of fresh air.

He poured a bottle of firewhiskey into a small glass cup before walking to the balcony. He took a sip of the whiskey, before gulped it all down his throat.

"It's highly unusual to see you consuming alcohol in broad daylight, ."

Snape sneered at the man who dared to disturb his peaceful mind.

"Go. Away."

"Oh, I think not." Wonka approached him by the door. Waving his hand, he lifted the fire whiskey bottle on the desk.

"Some more?"

Snape sneered at him again, before demanded another pour. He gulped the whiskey yet once again.

"Love is an interesting thing, isn't it? It comes unexpectedly when you least expected it. With the last person whom you'd never thought with."

Severus snorted aloud. "If you don't have anything else less interesting to say, may I suggest you go back to where you'd come from and stay there?"

To Severus' surprise, the man chuckled lightly.

"Oh, Snape. Here I was trying to be subtle in my words. Well, if you insist, I'll tell you straight then. You're in love with Claire, aren't you?"

His hands reacted faster than any words could sputtered out of his mouth, as Severus gripped a hold on the man's collar.

"What?"

"There's no need to denying it,Severus. I mean, it's plainly obvious you have been attracted to her for some time now."

"You have one last chance to take back your words before I blow you up to pieces." Severus pointed his wand at the latter's neck.

Instead of being intimidated by his threat, Willy chuckled again before he looked at him sadly in the eyes.

"It's okay, Snape. It's okay to fall in love again. There are no rules stating you can't fall in love after losing your one and true love. It happens unexpectedly after all."

Severus was half-tempted to send the fella to his death early, either from the effects from the alcohol or his words.

In the end, he released and shoved him to the door.

"Leave."

"Severus-"

"I said LEAVE!"

Willy sighed heavily. "You can't run away from this like you've done so in the past."

"She belongs to Lucius! I will not stand in between them just so I could satisfy to my own desire and selfishness!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, Severus groaned. He covered his face with one hand in shame.

"Oh Snape..." Willy tried to talk him out of it. But in the end, words seemed useless to the man at the moment.

So he turned around and get ready to leave the brooding man alone, when he stopped at the door.

"Contrasy to your belief, Mr. Snape, had my Goddaughter not chose Lucius, I would personally choose you to be the man who would make her happy. After all, what kind of man who went all the way across the country just to complained to her that some birds left pamplets at his doorsteps? Three months, Snape."

And then he left.


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone for reading this story! Makes me so happy ㈳9㈳6㈳6**

 **CHAPTER 22 Doubts**

 **WEDNESDAY** morning came in unusual silence at the Wonka's mansion, especially during breakfast. Instead of the usual table full five people, there were only two people at the long dining table.

"Has the Minister Shacklebolt mentioned anything about the so called Lord Voldemort's daughter?" Willy Wonka asked while wiping the small bits of leftover eggs at the corner of his lips.

"None. Shacklebolt has been locking himself in his office for days, settling the captured Death-Eaters. I've informed Potter about it though. He said he and his _friends_ would take a look into the matter." Severus Snape replied almost bitterly as he sipped on his cup of black coffee.

"I see." Willy put down his fork and sighed deeply. His eyes roamed around sadly at the empty seats around them.

On his left, Severus wiped his lips with a clean cloak before he excused himself. Leaving the Wizard all alone at the dining table.

Again, Willy sighed, louder this time.

* * *

" **Ginny**! Hermione! Luna! Good to see you girls again!" Claire gave the girls a hug the moment they walked into a small cafe in the Muggle World.

The girls shared a moment of laughters before they seated at their reserved table.

"It's been over a year. How time flies!" Ginny commented, waving her bright red hair over her shoulder. Beside her, Hermione nodded, agreeing.

"Oh, I don't know about that. I've met Miss Rollins the other night at Professor Snape's Fragrance Launch Party." Luna stated.

"Indeed we did." Claire nodded before she excitedly changed the topic. "So, tell me everything! How's it feels like to finally graduated from school?"

Ginny and Hermione left out a rather long sigh. They looked at each other.

"I dunno... Too many things have happened there, it's hard to forget everything, you know?"

"Indeed." Hermione drank her iced lemon tea. "Nevertheless, I do feel relief that I've finally finished my studies. Now, I can focus on finding a suitable job at the Minister of Magic's office."

"I'm sure you'll get a good job over there, Hermione. You are after all, the brightest student in Hogwarts."

"And you, Ginny? What's your plan after this?"

"Qudditch, of course." Ginny said proudly. "In fact, I'll be auditioning for the Holyhead Harpies for the Chaser position next week."

"Good luck to you then, love. You Luna? I remember you told me at the ball that you are going to be a future Magical Naturalist?"

"Yes. I will be joining my father in one of his expeditions soon."

Claire nodded understandingly. Truly she was happy for her younger friends and prayed all the best for them.

Hermione cleared her throat.

"Now that we've talked about us, what about you, Claire? How are things with you and your... _Beau?"_ She raised an eyebrow.

Claire had told the girls everything that had happened in her life, including her involvement with Lucius Malfoy.

Luna, Ginny and Hermione had all reacted differently; Luna had been delightful and wished her all the best, whereas Ginny had wanted to choke the life out of her for dating her family's long-time nemesis, had it wasn't for Hermione's quick-thinking and stunned the younger girl to her seat before she could attacked Claire.

To Claire's own surprise, the brilliant Muggle-born witch had taken the news quite well after all the bad blood that had happened between her beau and them.

In Hermione's defense, Claire was after all, a grown woman who could on her own. Her only concern and fears were the prejudice Claire would have to face once the words got out in public－even worse when it reached to the ears of the narrowed minded Pure-Blood Society.

Claire had reassured them everything will be fine and told them not to worry about her before she quickly changed the topic to a more lightful one.

Claire had told them everything that had happened, with an exception for her new-found Elemental abilities and the unexpected addition to the Wonka's mansion, which she rather not talk about it at the moment.

Unknown to Claire, her young friends however, were a bunch of considered, yet noisy and sharp minded young women when it comes on hiding things; especially when it's relationship related. They knew something was wrong the moment Claire had hollered them into this gathering - and it wasn't even the weekend!

Claire cleared her throat and began to talk about other things.

Yes. Other cheerful things.

After all, that was what this gathering for, wasn't it?

To forget about all the stressful things that was happening in her life. Best of all, to forget about the additional member in the manor that was making her feel very uncomfortable at home.

* * *

 **WHEN** Lucius stepped into the living room in the afternoon to have some peace in order to clear his head, he was expected to find no one there.

He was surprised however to find Willy was doing some reading and Severus was marking some paperworks at the desk with his back facing him.

"Aren't you working today, Wonka?"

Willy shrugged. "I can afford not to open the store for just a day. It's not like the people would starve to death."

On a contracy, many of the people who were mostly children, had gathered in front of the Willy Wonka Ice-Cream Patrol with a big signboard that said "CLOSED".

They all were quite dissapointed when their favourite ice-cream and the kind lady that served them were not available today.

Back to Lucius and the others, as soon as the wizard spoken those words, Lucius looked taken back but remained silence.

Clearing his throat, he suddenly remembered something.

"Where is Claire? I hav not yet see her today even during breakfast."

"Out." Severus answered fo him, roughly scrubbing something on the papers.

"What? Since this morning?"

"She dubbed it as 'Girls' Day Out' with Granger, Lovegood and Weasley."

Lucius eyebrow rose at the names of her friends. Again, he said nothing.

Walking toward the bookshelves, Lucius took out a book and then rested himself against a soft sofa, on the opposite side where Willy was sitting and began to read.

Unknown to him, both men had stopped doing their works and was focusing on the Malfoy's Partriach.

Willy shut the thick he was reading and put it on the coffee table before him. He then sat straight with his legs crossed, and hands on his laps as he addressed the man.

"Malfoy."

"Yes?" Lucius didn't bother to look up.

"You're reading it upside down."

Lucius quickly turned the book around before he sighed heavily. There was no use to cover it up his embarassment.

From the corner of his eyes, he thought he saw Severus smirked.

"How's the Madam?" Something about the way Willy asked the question madeLucius' blood turned cold.

It wasn't the question itself, no. It was the way he said with a Cheshire Cat's grin that troubled him.

What disturbed Lucius the most was the way he looked at her with hard, intimidating cold pair of eyes that pierced him.

Like a predator.

Lucius had not felt so intimidating by anyone since the Dark Lord's passing.

"I hope the medicine I've provide for are keeping her well?"

Lucius cleared his throat.

"Yes. The medicines are keeping her well, thank you. Narcissa is asleep. She had woken up early this morning and ate a bit of porridge before she went back to sleep."

"Glad to hear that. It was truly a gruesome sight when you walked into the dining room on that Sunday with her bruised and battered in your arms.. Truly shocking indeed."

Lucius briefly nodded. He remembered it clearly as a day how it happened:

He had been watching Claire duelling with Draco, all the sudden, he felt someone Apparated near him - Mimi, the Malfoy's House-Elf.

"Master Malfoy! Come with Mimi quickly! Something bad happened to Madam Narcissa! Madam won't wake up!"

Lucius apparated instantly to his manor with the House-Elf. Once he arrived, to his horror, his manor was in ruined and a wreck mess.

Holes were everywhere on the walls. The once beautiful manor looked nothing like it had been before. Worse of all, the shield he had created around the manor was broken.

Someone had broken into the manor and assulted his enstranged wife.

"Narcissa? Narcissa!" Lucius shouted from the front door as he carefully entered the manor, with a wand on his hand.

"Narcissa!"

There was no reply.

Lucius climbed up the stairs and did a search at each and every bedrooms on the floor. Eventually, he reached to the Master bedroom, his bedroom.

When he and Severus had left in search for Master Gou's Apparentices, Narcissa had spoken to him the night before that she would stay at the manor for three months until their wedding termination had been finalised.

Lucius thought nothing of it.

Perhaps she felt a sense of nostalgic after leaving the place they'd called as 'home' for so long. After all, he could always sleep in at the Wonka's manor where everyone was staying at the moment.

Where his love was currently staying and living there as well.

What Lucius did not expect the moment when he walked into the Master bedroom, was that his enstranged wife might have changed her mind.

Rose petals were scattered from the floor, all the way to the bed. There were fresh rose candle-scented filled in the air.

To say Lucius had been stunned was an understatement.

He had gawked at the room for a moment, before he came to realise his intention of coming here in the first place.

"Narcissa?" Lucius called her out again. He searched every inch and corner of the room for her until he came upon the bathroom with the door slightly ajar.

Pointing his wand onward, Lucius carefully took a few steps forward and walked in - to find an ugly sight of his enstranged battered wife on the bathroom's floor.

"Narcissa!" Lucius rushed over her. The first thing he checked was her pulse.

Weak, but still there was a pulse.

Next, Lucius took noticed of her condition.

Crucio.

Someone had crucio-ed her. That explained the bruishes on her body.

Scooping her in his arms gently and carefully, Lucius then apparated them both back to the Wonka's manor instead of where she would be a lot safer.

 **Lucius** blinked his eyes, away from his deep thoughts. Since the day he had brought Narcissa to the Wonka manor, things had been really tensed and awkward around everyone, especially Claire.

He would never forgotten the look on her pretty face when she had seen how bad Narcissa's condition had been when he first brought her in.

Lucius knew, deep inside, there was all sort of emotions went through her head by the look in her eyes as he laid Narcissa down on a bed of the many empty guest-rooms.

He wanted to explain to Claire; to tell her nothing would ever changed between them, that he still loved her.

However, it seemed at that time, he had been mainly focused on getting his enstranged wife alive again.

Once Narcissa's condition had stable, with lots of efforts from Willy and Severus, Draco had taken Lucius' place and refused to leave his mother's side since then.

For the rest of the next two days, the Malfoy family had been occupied by making sure that Narcissa's condition improved and not making it even worse, now that she suffered from a high fever.

Willy Wonka had been very kind and helpful to the Malfoy family by allowing them to stay over his manor until Lucius could his home rebuilt.

As for Lucius, well, he had been busy taking care of his family. He had not be there for Draco before and he intended to be there and supported him this time around.

Today since the day he bought Narcissa over, was the first time Lucius realised he had not seen Claire for days.

Thus, his quest on finding the Muggle. However, it turned out to be frutile when Severus had informed him she had been out with her friends since morning.

Lucius sighed in dissapointment. Nevertheless, he dragged his feet up the staicases to check how Narcissa was doing and to see if his son in need for a meal.

* * *

 **MEANWHILE** , Claire's Girls Day Out turned out to be more than just a typical hang out. After successfully being persuaded by the girls, they had managed to drag the reluctant Claire to a nearby night club to have some fun.

Claire was not the type who goes out at night. She found night club to be extremely noisy and a bored. However, for the sake of her younger friends who really just wanted to release some steams, she decided it was okay to have some fun once for a while.

How dearly wrong she had been and how deeply she had underestimate her friends' toleration against alcoholic drinks.

By nine O'clock, most of the girls were drunk out of their heads!

Even Hermione, the ever so smart witch got wasted for the first time in her whole life.

Claire lose counts on how many times she needed to hold the poor girl's hair as she emptied her stomach.

Out of all the girls, to Claire's great surprise, it was Ginny who got drunk the most even when she consumed the least, and Luna was the most sane one even though the girl drank the bottle like there's no tomorrow.

It was an interesting sight to watch at the very least.

Claire was lucky she had managed to somewhat got them all back to Ginny's home at the Burows where all the girls were staying that night.

With Ginny slung her arms behind her, Claire knocked the door, all the while trying not to let the young girl fell.

The door opened and along came Weasley.

"Good Heavens!" The shock expression on his face was a memorable one as he took a look at each one of them. When his eyes fell on his daughter, he nearly screamed but was cut short by his wife's howling.

"Ginerva Weasley, what have you got yourself into?!"

Molly Weasley walked toward them and opened the front door to the fullest.

"G-Greetings, Ma'am..." Claire smiled scarily at the older woman.

Ginny had told her about her family, especially her mother whom she both loved dearly and scared of at the same time.

"I.. Hope you would save your yelling later, Ma'am? Your daughter's quite heavy and I'm pretty sure she's already broken my back bones many times.."

"Oh dear, come on in then!" Arthur hurriedly invited them in. He took his daughter from Claire's back and carried her to the living room before laying her down on the sofa. The other two girls followed as well, nursing their headaches.

He then walked to the kitchen where Claire was with Molly and shook her hand.

"Claire Rollins, isn't it? My daughter talked a lot about you. In fact, I think all of them whom have met you have something to say about you." Arthur smiled gleefully.

"It's nice to finally get to meet with you. Arthur Weasley. This is my wife, Molly."

"Likewise, Sir. Madam." Claire smiled.

"Well! I don't know what you girls have been up to, but surely there should be more control next time!" Molly frowned slightly to which Claire chuckled.

"You'll be glad to hear I've stopped your daughter from doing something very idiotic just a while ago."

"Oh? Prey do tell." Molly raised an eyebrow.

"Well, Madam, she was-"

"You traitor!"Ginny's loud voice boomed from the living room before she stormed to the kitchen rather haggardly.

"You don't get to tell my family what happened back there!"

"Ginny, you were about to kiss the bartender. I'm pretty sure his partner was about to start a cat fight with you if I didn't pull you away from him!"

"Yeah? Well, at least I didn't get to lock my lips with Lucius Malfoy, didn't I?"

Oh no she didn't...

In her angry drunken state, Ginny had told her parents and possibly the entire world Claire's deepest secret.

Everything happened in a blur as Hermione and Luna giddily rushed to stop the girl from shouting any more of their best kept secrets to the entire world.

When Claire turned her head at them, she saw how red faced both Weasleys were. Molly wanted to say something to her but was immediately cut by her husband.

"Miss Rollins, I think you and I need to have a little chat. How about a drink? Molly, make sure the girls sleep in Ginny's room and lock the door. I'll be back just lil bit. Miss Rollins, shall we?"

* * *

 **To** say Claire was dreadful nervous was an understatement. She was a nervous wrecked when Arthur Weasley whom she never met before but knew how a good man he was, based on the stories told by Ginny and Hermione, stated he would like to have a word with her after Ginny had bluntly spurted out she was dating Lucius.

Claire knew what to expect from this talk though; the prejudice she would have to face once words got out that she was dating Lucius within three months. She had been preparing herself for it; the protests, the mean cruel things people would say behind her back, of how sick Lucius was and that a removal spell was needed to perform on her.

However, none of it was what came out from Arthur Weasley's mouth.

Instead of telling her she made a mistake for choosing Lucius, Arthur smiled briefly at her - a small smile but a smile nevertheless.

"Miss Rollins-"

"Please, call me Claire. Less formality."

"Miss Claire then. I have to admit before today, I've already knew of your involvement with Lucius Malfoy."

Claire gulped.

"Forgive me. It wasn't my intentional at all to eavesdrop on my daughter and Hermione's conversation that night. I'd simply wanted to ask Ginny something when the topic Malfoy came out. Initially, I'd thought something else might have happened to any of the children but when the conversation switched to how he was in a secret relationship with a Muggle, I got interested to know and well..." Arthur looked away shyly.

Claire laughed heartedly.

"No need to apologise, . I'm sure you're not the only one who would be interested to know about us. There ought to be plenty who would want to know about us in the future, I'm sure."

For a longest time, Arthur simply looked at Claire. Finally, gathering his courage, he asked the young Muggle.

"Forgive me for being blunt, Miss Claire, however I just have to ask: for someone like ypu who is obviously intelligent and could hold on her grounds, what makes you agreed to become his mistress?"

Claire burst on her drink and quickly cleaned herself up.

"Did he forced you? If he did Miss Claire, I can help you to-"

"He didn't do anything to me and I've never said anything about becoming his Mistress either!" Claire's voice increased.

"But you're not married. And he has a wife."

"In three months, he would get his marriage license terminated. He told me he just needed Minister Shacklebolt's approval. It's Shacklebolt's hectic schedule that mostly takes a lot of time."

Arthur looked at her straight in the eyes.

"What process? Hectic schedule? Young lady, what are you talking about?"

"Well, Shacklebolt is a very busy man isn't he? he IS the Minister of Magic. Anything related to magic must be directly address to him, is it not?"

"Why yes. I work very closely with him, Miss Claire. Each morning, I bought along papers that need his signatures and approvals. Never once did I see any marriage letter shown up on his desk..." He looked at her and frowned. "Three months you say? Did Malfoy mention when did he send the letter?"

Claire massaged the growing headache on her forehead.

"A month ago, if I'm not mistaken. A day before Severus Snape's launched his fragrance at a hotel in the Muggle World..."

Arthur looked paled all the sudden.

" ?"

"Oh sweet Merlin..." He pulled out his glasses and set it on the table while massaging his pitching his nose, like how Severus often does.

"What?" Claire's voice was shaking.

"Miss Claire.. There had been a letter delivered to Shacklebolt's office. An unusual letter of request to terminate a marriage vow with a consequences. The letter was unsigned. In the letter, whoever wrote it had explained about the usage of Repelling Vow on their wedding night. The writer had asked if though it is illegal thing to do by law, if it's possible for the wish to be grant after all."

Arthur took a big gulp on his tea.

"You have to understand, when Shacklebolt hadreceived the letter, it had been from unnamed or left any signs of tracks whom it belonged to. So, he rejected the letter at first."

"At first?"

"Yes. Until one of the Ministers finally traced down to the owner and all wands were pointed at Lucius Malfoy."

Claire gasped. "So.. Is he.."

"Guilty? In the eye of the Court, yes. In fact, they would do anything to drag him back to Azkaban if they could. They would take the first chance they could to lock him there for eternity, even if he had done a little petty thing like throwing trash at the road side."

"Shacklebolt had wanted to save Lucius from his fate. Even Harry was doing his best to make sure he wasn't going back to Azkaban anytime soon even as his probination time is out. That's Harry for you."

Arthur smiled fondly at the young man.

"Anyway, Shacklebolt's own hands were tied between saving Lucius and becoming a fair political Minister. Before the news reached to the other Ministers, he had told Lucius personally to step down. Marriage in the Wizarding World is unlike the Muggle world, Miss Claire. When you get married, you married for life. Or until death tears you two apart."

Claire's mind getting cloudly with each words said by the older man.

"Lucius gotten mad. He begged Shacklebolt to turn a blind eye and grant him this one last wish for him. When Shacklebolt rejected him again, Lucius gotten angry. As he left the office, he vowed one way or another, he would have his marriage terminated."

Arthu looked at his half empty cup before looked back at her.

"He sounded very determined, Miss Claire. I don't what he planned to achieve by the end of the three months, but if he get caught, they will lock him up in Azkaban. No one, no even Harry could save him this time."

"No..No! No! You must be mistaken! Lucius won't do such things! He won't do such desperate things just so he could be with me... T-that's outrageous! I-I know that he loves me, but this is almost to the point of _obssession_!"

"Malfoy is a manipulative man, Miss Claire. He has changed for a better, yes. But that side of him, that darker manipulative side of him will always be his demons. Take my advice, Miss Claire: do not go down that path. It's not worth the suffering. It's certainly not too late for you to find yourself a decent man. A better man."

"Are you... Are you telling me to break up with Lucius? _Again_?"

Arthur Weasley did not fully understand by what does she meant by "again".

"I refuse! I know he has his demons, I have them too! If you think I would just simply walk away by listening to this talk-"

"Then answer me this, Miss Claire, has Lucius ever mention he would announce your relationship to the Pure-Blood world? Without having the needs to be secretive as if you are his Mistress? If he truly loves you, as you had claimed, he would have to make a vow in front of the Pure-Blood society so that the world would know who you are. Has he mentioned that to you?"

"No... But that's because we've been busy trying to capture the bad guys!" Claire still protested. Even she knew herself thay she was just making excuses for Lucius.

Not able to stand anymore of the pressure that threatened to burst from within her, Claire stood up.

"I'd best get going. I-It's getting late..."

Arthur stood up as well. "I'll apparate you home."

* * *

 **Claire** needed to think. She needed to get away from the place, to her home, her room, her little Heaven and think throughly about the conversation she had with Arthur.

Some of it does made sense when she pieced it together. But she lacked of any evidences to support her case.

As Claire was busily pondered about it, someone knocked on her door.

"Come in!"

The door softly opened, revealed the greasy black haired wizard. He had a big camping bag on his left hand.

"We're leaving."

"W-what?! Where?"

"We are to meet with Master Guo's Apparentice, Master Lee for your Elementarily training. Now hurry up and move it, woman!"


	23. Chapter 23

**Shoutouts to:**

 **To all the people who have been supporting this story frm the beginning until now. This chapter is for you. Enjoy! ㈵6**

 **Chapter 23: New City**

 **JAPAN.**

Land of the Rising Sun.

It was this country where Claire Rollins found herself standing at the entrance of the Narita Airport after more than twelve hours of flight with one irritating Severus Snape. They were waiting for their luggage to arrive.

Claire massaged her chin out of habit.

Though it had been hours since she left England in rushed (out of courtesy by the man standing beside her), Claire couldn't help but to think the conversation she had with Arthur Weasley. Even when she was so far away from home, that was all she could think of on the way here.

Claire sighed softly.

Her confrontation with Lucius did not end well. Claire had, confronted Lucius about his supposedly lies before she left. She didn't directly confronted him of course. All she had asked was that he showed her the letter that he had sent to Shacklebolt.

"Why do you want to see the letter?"

"Why _can't_ I?" Claire asked. Her suspicious toward his reluctant for her to see increased.

Claire knew she should trust him. However, something about what Arthur had said to her troubled her greatly.

The vow－to be acknowledge to their relationship status and made known to the whole of the Pure-Blood Community.

Why hadn't he mentioned it before? Was he going to mention it to her after he got separated from Narcissa? Even so, he should have mentioned it to her earlier so that she could very well prepared herself!

Was he...ashamed to be with her, a Muggle?

Claire had made it cleared she wasn't ashamed to be seen with him in public. In fact, she wanted to be seen with him. Now that she thought about it, they had never been out together as a couple, with an exception the night when they had reconciled.

Even so...

"Look, many things have happened lately, and I'm having the benefits of the doubt-"

"You don't trust me." Lucius' voice had been sharp and cold as he sputtered those words. The way he had looked at her was as if he was facing his greatest enemy yet; with intimidating glare and a snarl.

"I do trust you! I just-"

"Then stop questioning me, woman! Stop questioning what I do, when I do it or how I do it!" In his rage, Lucius had slammed a nearby vase to the wall.

It had left Claire deeply in shock and stunned.

Was Lucius Malfoy prone to violent against women?

Apparently he was.

Suddenly, Arthur Weasley's words came in her mind:

 _"_ _He has changed for the better, yes. But that side of him, the dark manipulative side of him, will always be his demons. Take my advice, Miss Claire: do not go down that path. It's not worth the suffering."_

Would he raise his hands against her next time when there were no vases for him to slam or break? Thought he had said many times he would never hurt her.. But anything could happen right?

Feelings could changed, emotions could flipped, and he-

"Miss Rollins, we ought to leave NOW!" Snape had raised his voice at the front door, calling out to her and had snapped Claire out of her thoughts.

Claire quickly grabbed her luggage and headed toward the door.

"I think we both are in need for some time out with each other. Goodbye, Lucius."

"Claire."

She didn't look back when he'd called her.

That had been the last time she had seen him.

"Miss Rollins?" Snape's baritone voice alerted her.

"Yes?"

"Kindly snapped out from your daydreaming and help me, Claire." His sharp tone made her cringed as he picked both their luggages and set hers in front of her.

Snape began to pull his luggage and headed toward the Custom. Claire running after him with her own luggage.

* * *

 **Claire** couldn't help but to grin widely. She had always wanted to come to Japan! Her obsession with the Japanese Culture had led everyone who knew her to believe that she would marry a Japanese man one day.

She inhaled deeply. Breathing the fresh air as the sun began to shine upon her skin.

" _Mabushii!"_ Claire said it loudly.

"What are you speaking of, Rollins?"

"It's Japanese, Snape! It means 'Radiant'. "

The man scoffed. He was holding a small pocket book - 'Japanese Language for Foreigners'.

Closing the book, he crossed both arms and stared straight at Claire.

"If you're very fluent in their language, then perhaps could you ask them to take us to Tokyo City? We are running late, as it is."

"Oh, sure. Wait here for a minute and don't move. And keep that snarl look to yourself, Snape!"

Snape rolled his eyes and sneered at the young woman as she went to the taxi waiting counter.

Less than five minutes later, she returned with a kind looking taxi driver. The driver bowed his head upon meeting with Severus before he offered to help with the luggages into the boot.

"I've already explained to him where we're going." Claire smiled brightly. She opened the passenger's left door and climbed in. Severus did the same on the other side.

* * *

 **The** whole trip to the Tokyo City was filled with silence. The driver was polite and carefully drove them to the busy city.

Claire's eyes roamed around the outside scenery. Occasionally, she would pointed out at buildings or the advertisements on the big screen and explained to Severus what they were, seeing how her friend had no clue whatsoever about Japan and its cultures.

When they finally arrived two hours later at the Tokyo Station, Severus' bad mood gotten even worsen with the hectic crowds.

"Where, if I may ask, are we going exactly, Severus?" Claire crossed her arms. She watched Severus who looked like he was searching for someone.

"This the rendezvous site where we are suppose to meet up with the man who would be our tour guide."

"Oh. Well, do we have any idea what he looks like?"

Before Severus could reply, a Japanese Priest approached them. With a calm, soft and gentle voice, he asked in a good Japanese-English.

"Excuse me. Are you Mister Seuerusu Suneipu?"

Snape stared intimidatingly at him. "It's Severus Snape."

"Ah, that is good then." The Priest bowed at them and smiled. "My name is Ono-Lee Shuujin desu. I will be your Tour Guide."

"The password." Snape spoke, still keeping his guards up.

"Ah, of course. Forgive me Suneipu-san." Ono bowed his head again. "The password is: _Saramanderesu._ "

Snape nodded. He bowed his head briefly. Beside him, Claire bowed too.

"You must be Kurea Rorinzu-san. Nice to meet you finally."

"Hai! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!" Claire bowed.

Ono did the same and smiled. "You speak good japanese. Very impressive."

He looked at Snape before telling them both to follow him.

"I will take you to the place. But first, you need to register yourselves at the HeadQuarters. Follow me please."

"Um, Shuujin-san? Are you the Master who will be teaching me later?" Claire asked while making her say to the lift.

"Hai. I hope that will not be a problem?"

"Ah! Of course not. I will try my best!"

"I'm afraid to interupt your conversation, how exactly are we going to the 'HeadQuarter?', ?" Snape asked in uninterested tone.

"There is a way. But first, we must find the lift. Ah! Here it is."

Ono pressed the button and wait for the lift to arrive. He kept his eyes for any unwanted people.

"Japan's policy is very strict. We have to be careful no one is in the lift with us or else we will be in big trouble."

 _Ting!_

The lift's doors opened and the three of them stepped in. Ono pressed the 'close' button, and took out a wand from his sleeve jacket. He pointed his wand at the switch buttons and muttered a spell.

Not sooner than that, a secret hidden button appeared in between the 'open' and 'close' buttons.

He pressed it and put away his wand back inside his sleeves.

The lift went down slowly from the First Floor, to the Ground Level before it took off like a flying bullet.

"I hope you can forgive me for being ignorant by asking you this, , are you not a Buddhist Priest? Yet, you practiced magic." Severus asked after a short while.

"Oh no, Suneipu-san. You see, becoming a Buddhist Priest has nothing to do with me born as a Pure-Blood wizard. Magic is in my blood and becoming a Priest is my Calling."

"I see."

"For example, Suneipu-san, Rorinzu-san here is a Muggle is she not? Yet, according to you, she is able to use a small form of elementarily magic even though she had not being taught to do it. You mentioned she might inherited it from her biological parents. It seems to me, she already possessed a bit of magical blood in her."

The men looked at Claire.

The lift stopped and a light _ting_ sound before it opened.

"Suneipu-san, Rorinzu-san. Let me welcome you to the Wizarding World of Japan!"

* * *

 **The** place was beyond astonishing. It was as if they had travelled back in time - back in the late 50s, except there was Western influence to it- mostly Victorian.

Women dressed up in kimonos were walking the street. Some of them dressed Victorian gowns. Same goes with the men and children.

Though, there was no doubt even for a second, these people were witches and wizards.

"This way, please." Ono's gentle voice snapped his two guests from their own world.

Claire felt as if her heart was going to burst any minute now. She barely breathe.

Beside her, Severus remained stoic and calm. However, his eyes kept on wandering from left to right and the frown on his forehead deepened.

To an outsider, it may looked like he was irritated to be in unknown place. But for trained eyes like Claire, he was feeling excite deep inside and cautious of their new surroundings.

They followed Ono through the rather busy street. Severus had shrunk their luggages to a small size the moment they arrived so that it would be less hassle for them to carry their luggages everywhere.

The trio walked for a moment until they reached to a two storeys old building.

"We are here." Ono said with a smile.

"This is where you live, Shuujin-san?"

"Oh, certainly not, Rorinzu-san. This is the Headquarter. In Japan, if you are a Wizard or Witches; you will need to go through custom twice. One, in the Muggle world, and another one is here, the Wizarding World. Fortunately for you two, I have already informed them."

"And?"

"It means, Suneipu-san, you don't need to queue." The sliding doors opened, revealed a long queueing line. "This way, please."

Odo led them to the less queueing line. He lined up and when it was his turn, he called his two guests to come forward and began to talk with the lady at the counter.

Claire listened to their conversation and knew exactly what they were talking about while Snape stood still stiffly beside her. She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, before she shook her head.

 _Man, he's helpless_.

Without warning, she caught his sweating right plam and clenched her fingers together with his.

Snape jerked a little when her hand caught with his. His body automatically stiffened. He glared sharply at her. Asking her with his eyes, 'what do you think you're doing?'.

Claire however, wouldn't have any of it. She tightened her grip.

"Breathe. You're in a safe zone,Severus." Claire whispered softly. She knew he was anxious to be in a foreign non-speaking English country where he wasn't in full control, scared him.

That somewhat made Claire curious and even pondered as why he would choose to come along with her if he was so scared of travelling to a foreign country?

Before Claire could asked Snape why, Ono's voice caught her attention.

"Nani? Sore wa tashika ni warui nyūsudesu.." Ono shook his head. The counter lady rapidly apologised to him.

"What did he say?"

"He..ah.. something bad has happened. Wait here." Claire went to Ono at the counter.

"I'm sorry, Shuunjin-san? Is something the matter?"

"Ah, Rorinzu-san. Sumemasen. It seems there is a bit of conflict about the rooms I have booked for Suneipu-san and you tonight."

"Conflicts? What kind of conflicts?"

"The Headquarter has made a mistake thinking that you and Suneipu-san are a couple. Therefore, they have only booked for one room instead of two."

"What!"

"Sumemasen! Hontoni sumemasen!" Said the counter lady repeatedly, bowing her head at Claire.

"Er.. no! I-It's alright.. We can stay for just one night, right?"

"It is absolutely not all right, Rorinzu-san! Unmarried couple shouldn't be sleeping in the same room together. Many unwanted things will happen!"

Claire felt her face flushed. Was the air getting or was it just her? Waving her hand to get rid of the hot air around her, she glanced at Severus who was glaring at her and shook her head.

"Is there any available room left?"

"That is also a bad news,Rorinzu-san. Unfortunately, all rooms are fully booked due to an event that is happening this month, the Cherry Blossom Festival."

Claire scratched her unitching head. She could feel Severus' sharp burning gaze on her back. No doubt the man was losing his patient.

Taking a long deep breath, she said, "Shuujin-san, I'll take the room."

"But Rorinzu-san!"

"It'll be just one night. Besides, I'm sure you could arrange another futon to be fit into the room, right? I trust Severus Snape. We've been house-mates for months, close to a year now and I had lived with him for two whole months in the small cramped house he'd called as home. A room wouldn't be a problem!"

Ono sighed deeply. "Very well. If that is what you wish. Western mindsets are very strange indeed."

 _After_ they had settled the room issues, they obtained a key from the desk lady and had Odo taken them upstairs to the said room on the third floor.

"This is your room."

The room had a fantastic view of trees, cherry blossoms trees with it's pink petals fluttered past the windows even at night.

It was a perfect vacation spot for couples.

"Dinner will be served to you in a short while. You may use the bathroom to freshen up,Suneipu-san, Rurinzu-san."

"Hai. Thank you for your help, Shuujin-san!"

"Iye. I shalls see you tomorrow then. Oyasumenasai, Rurinzu-san, Suneipu-san." Odo bowed and then made his way to the exit.

As soon as he left, Claire sprawled herself on the soft futon on the floor.

"I think I'm starting to feel the overdue jetlag."

Snape took out his luggage from his chest pocket and set it on the floor.

"Your luggage, Miss Rollins."

Claire searched for hers in one of the pockets she kept it in before throwing it at him who caught it perfectly.

Setting her luggage next to his, Severus then took out his wand and muttered a simple spell.

The luggages transformed back to its original size.

Once it was done, Snape put away his wand and took his luggage to his side of the futon and began to gather a few items on his laps.

Claire watched as he sorted out his stuff by hands with amused smile.

"What?"

"Nothing." Her smile widened, causing the older man to sneer at her before he stood up, walked toward the bathroom and slammed the door.

Unknown to Claire, Snape had felt flushed rushed down from his head to neck and spine and his neck when she had smiled at him like that.

Damn her for making him feel this way! He shouldn't have come. What on Merlin's beard had possessed him to come along in this trip with her in the first place?! He knew Wonka would be thrilled to come.

So why...

Severus groaned and pitched the bridge of his nose.

He's denying it. For the sake of his old friendship with Lucius and his friendship with Claire.

He's denying all of it all so that he would not lose anyone matters to him anymore.

Losing Lily was the hardest thing he could bear. But to lose Claire's friendship as well when she found out this ugly rotten man old enough to be her father was having feelings for her? How would she react to that? She would laugh. At least with Lucius, he had the looks, the fortunes and power that every woman could ever dreamt of.

...Except that Claire Rollins wasn't unlike any of those women. She was kind to him, treated him with respect that Severus had never earned for. She laughed with him, had made him smiled, aibeit just a little. She accepted him who he was and seen the man behind the monster.

Severus suddenly remembered the bloody Wonka's words the other day:

 _"It's okay to fall in love again,Snape. There are no rules stating you can't fall in love after losing your one and true love. It happens unexpectedly after all."_

And before they Apparate to the Muggle's airport:

 _"This may be your one and only chance to win her heart, Severus. With Lucius out of the picture, you have nobody to compete for her heart."_

 _"Why are you being like this? Your Goddaughter loves Lucius. Why are you not voting for him instead."_

 _"Because he hurt my precious Claire. He'd made her cried for him. But you, Severus. You won't make the same mistakes as Lucius would you? You won't her cry."_

Foolish wizard. No wonder he lives alone in that big manor. What kind of reltionship that did not have tears involved?

Severus shook his head as he stepped into the hot tub. As for now, he shall concentrate on what matters the most and focused solely on that.

* * *

 **WONKA'S** household had been awfully silence ever since the greasy git wizard and the charming Muggle had left the manor a day ago.

For Lucius Malfoy, who had been doing nothing but brooding on the leather red chair in the living room, staring to nothingness at the flaring flame on the fireplace, with big piece of shard from the vase that he had broken a day ago remained on his left palm.

Lucius looked like a wreched. He didn't hadn't bothered to shave the growing stubble for a while.

The scene when he had slammed the vase against the wall in rage kept on playing in his mind.

It wasn't the scene that gotten him the most.

No.

It was the look on Claire's face: the absolutely horrified and terrifying look she had given him when he slammed the vase and when she had quickly left him.

How could he be so bloody stupid? Lucius clenched his fists.

They had their first arguement and he was already showing her his dark side - his demons. The Death-Eather that would always dwelled inside of him.

She's scared of me now.

Lucius looked at the shard.

" _I think we both are in need for some time out with each other. Goodbye, Lucius."_

"Claire." Lucius inhaled before he exhaled deeply, lending his back against the sofa.

Meanwhile, two figured had been watching Lucius for quite some time now from the entrance.

Willy and Rita shook their heads altogether but with different reasons.

"Honestly, if I'd known I would get truly interesting topic to write on the gossip column by just living in this manor with you lots I would have done so earlier!"

"Indeed. It is the most unfortunate that your stuff have been confiscated, Miss Skeeter."

Rita rolled her eyes and crossed her arms before she walked away.

Willy let out a sigh before he too followed the noisy witch to the dining room.

Dinner was simple enough; a rack of lamb with mashed potato and some freshly steamed vegetables.

Willy sat at the head table, silently eating his meal. On his right side was Rita, stabbing the innocent carrots with her fork.

After a moment of awkward silence between them, Rita finally had enough.

"I can't believe I'm about to say this but I missed having that Muggle around. At least it's fun to have someone I can mocked and have that mock returned."

"You mean you liked having a quarrling partner." Willy smirked briefly.

The noisy reported made ungraceful snort. "At least it's better than having to talk to the stiff tree upstairs. I mean, honestly! How did he put up with that?"

Willy had to cover up his giggles with a clean cloak at her insult.

He was about to retort some of his own when suddenly he stopped and looked at the direction where Lucius was in the living room with a surprised look.

"What? What is it?"

"Shhh." Willy put one finger on his lips. He pointed out to her to the entrace of the living room. As silently as he possible could, Willy slide out of his seat and went to the entrance.

Rita immediately transformed herself to a Bettle and joined him by the wall, listening to the ongoimg conversation between Lucius and his son.

"Mother calls you. She would like to see you, Father."

Willy heard the man made a snickered sound before he got up from his chair and followed Draco to the staircase.

Rita transformed back to her human-self.

"What happened? You must know something! Tell me!"

Willy ignored her truthful rants. He put one under his chin and began to evalute the whole situation carefully.

* * *

 **Lucius** knocked on the door twice before he allowed to come in. He was about to shut the door when Darco appeared behind him.

"It's okay. He already knows what I'm about to say, Lucius dear. Let him in."

Lucius hesitatingly opened the door and let his son in. Shutting the door, he walked toward the beside of the bed where Narcissa was sitting, watching him.

"Draco had informed me you wished to speak to me. What is it?"

"Always so serious. You didn't even bother to beat over the bush, do you, Lucius?"

"Narcissa, I-"

"I want us to start over again."

Silence filled in the air. There was no sound whatsoever in the room except for their own breathing.

Lucius looked at her, stunned.

"Excuse me?"

Narcissa sighed. "Lucius love, we've been married for twenty-one years, regardless of it was an arranged marriage. We've been through a lot as a couple before the war. Do you really want to throw that away?"

"My dear Narcissa, I clearly remember it was you who had wishes for freedom after you've tasted after the war at your sister's and family's manor."

"Indeed. And look where it had gotten me. I'd almost died. For real this time. It had made me reevaluate everything I'd ready to throw away; you, Draco, this family. While you were away and I had been alone in the manor, I soon realised something I hadn't before: I needed you, Lucius. I wanted you... I love you. I truly love you."

"Narcissa.."

Narcissa reached out and touched his rough hands.

"I..know now the price of my freedom is worthless if I don't have you by my side. Please, Lucius. Let's start all over again. As a couple and as a family."

"Father."

Dark grey eyes moved from his enstranged wife to his son, standing at the edge of the bed.

"Whatever you decided to choose, I'll always love you." Draco then walked toward the door and shut it.

Lucius looked down at his entangled fingers with Narcissa's.

He looked up at her gazing lovingly at him with eyes filled with love that was never there before.

She was waiting for him to choose.

He had to make up his mind. Now.

"Narcissa. I..."

* * *

 **CLIFFHANGER! I know I'm such a bad Author for leaving a dramatic cliffhanger at the end of this chapter *hide***

 **I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed doing research on my favourite country in the whole world, Japan! ;)**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: Deep Words**

 **Shoutouts to:**

 **BeraniandSeverus4eva: Thank you for your last review post! I'm so sorry I didn't post any shoutouts on the last chapter - had been so tired and my eyes were falling asleep on me.**

 **I love the name you came out with 'Snare'. Isn't it so ironic? Lol.**

 **Haha we will see about that! I am thinking of making another story though. SnapexOc pairing this time. Just for you! XD**

 **A/N: Ahem, this Author and the cast of 'The Muggle,The Greasy Git and The Proud Wizard' would like to wish a Merry Christmas for all of you who celebrating today/tomorrow. Hope you have a splendid day today celebrating with family and friends. We thank all of you for your constant supports and hope to keep you around for some more fun! :)**

* * *

" **HERE** we are, finally. Suneipu-san, Rurinzu-san. Allow me to welcome you to the Shuujin's Shrine!" Ono said as soon as they have reached in front of the Shrine.

Claire wiped her damp forehead using the back of her sleeves. Behind her, Severus was doing the same, except he was using a small white handkerchief.

Claire looked at her wristwatch.

The time was now twelve and a half o'clock in the afternoon. They had been walking and hiking from the HeadQuarter since sunrise, at six forty-five in the morning until now, to finally reach to their destination.

Almost six hours of travelling.

Severus had asked the soft-spoken Priest why didn't they just Apparate from the HeadQuarter to the Shrine halfway through the journey.

Ono had merely answered, "In Japan, we japanese often walk around as it is very beneficial for the health, Suneipu-san. Besides, this is good training for Rurinzu-san. To prepare herself for the upcoming trainings desu."

Ono led his guests into the Shrine, and was immediately greeted by the other Priests. He introduced Claire and Severus to them in Japanese.

The Priests bowed their head. They said something in japanese to them before ushering the couple to come inside the shrine.

"They are saying the afternoon meals have already been prepared for you, Suneipu-san. Rurinzu-san." said Ono, following behind them.

At the mention of food, Claire's stomach made a loud grumble.

The other priests snickered at the loud grumbling sound of her starving stomach, much to her embarrassment.

Severus merely raised an eyebrow while Ono politely smiled at her.

"Here you go, Rurinzu-san." He handed her a tray of a small bowl of white rice, a grilled fish and radish miso soup. "Enjoy your meal, please."

"Itadakimasu." Claire said the prayer, and dug the food. She ate expertly using the chopsticks that were given to her along with the set meal.

As Claire chewed on her food, ýshe stole a glance to her left and was surprised to see Severus was managing well with his food using a pair of chopsticks.

Severus, noticed her stare, stared back at her with a small grin appeared across his lips.

"Like what you see, Rollins?"

"I'm merely surprise to be honest, Snape. You knew nothing about Japan yet you know how to use a chopstick to eat! What's your best kept secret?"

Deep vibrating chuckles came from the man instead. Severus shook his head and finishing up his meal without answering the question.

* * *

Soon after the two had finished their meals and satisfied their hunger for food, Ono took them to a path that led them to a small passage in the forest behind the shrine.

"We shall began our trainings here." Said Ono once they reached at the top of an opened space field. On the left side, there was a beautiful waterfall.

Ono walked toward the waterfall. He then shed the outer layer of his many layered clothes and neatly folded it before putting it aside.

Claire and Severus watched him in silent. Severus was having a hard time understanding what was going on. Claire on the other hand, managed to piece up the puzzles together.

"Many years ago, monks would come to this waterfall to meditate. It is said, the Gurēto gurando masutā Tamaki Sai, was the first Erementarisu. He was said to be a Half-Blood monk. His mother was said a Muggle born and his father came a well known Pure-Blood samurai family. It is from Sai-sama that we Eremetarisu learned how to use our gifts to the fullest."

Ono bowed his head down respectfully toward the waterfall and to the two of his guests.

"I shall now show you some insighto what you will learn, Rorinzu-san." He bowed again. Ono turned around and slowly, let his left foot touched the cold waterfall.

At first, the water was touching his skin. As he moved deeper into the waterfall and the water rinsed on him, something made Claire gasped when she realised how the waterdrops from the waterfall were literally floating in the air, around him.

Ono turned at them with a pair of very light sky blue eyes - that looked almost silverish blue. He blinked once and twice, before he spoke in a soft and lightful tone.

"Shuujin-san, your eyes.."

"Rorinzu-san, Suneipu-san, this is what it will looks like once you have sucessfully control the element." Ono blinked his eyes, and the floating water around him began to evaporate - leaving nothing behind.

Ono looked and smiled at Claire, who was amased by his performance. Even Severus was left stunned.

Ono bowed his head at them. He straightened his back and faced them again. This time, he looked straight at Severus.

"Suneipu-san, would you please cast a powerful curse at me?"

"What?" Claire looked from the Priest to Severus. "You're not serious.."

"Please, Rurinzu-san. I assure you I will be all right. Watashi no naka de shinkō o motte kudasai."

"What did he say?" Severus asked, taking his battle stance.

"He simply said to have some faith in him." Claire answered, backing away from the two men and watched for a distance.

Severus briefly bowed his head and pointed his wand at the man and shouted, _"Confringo!"_

An explosion occur right before her very eyes that left Claire alling down on the rocky ground while screaming as she covered her ears and shut her eyes tightly.

When she reopened them, her eyes searched for Ono instantly.

"Shuujin-san! _Shuujin-san!"_ Claire called out coughing, through the thick and heavy smoke from the blast.

When the smoke finally cleared a bit, Claire could see a light blue partly invisible barrier was shielding something or someone from its protection bubble.

"Shuujin-san..?"

Ono's eyes colour changed once again. were back to its silverish blue.

"Depending on your strength of power and how much you are able to control them, Rurinzu-san, the elemental powers that you possessed could either protect from the enemies or even kill you.."

The barrier around him scattered to pieces like broken glasses. Ono fell down his knee and panting heavily.

"Shuujin-san!" Claire rushed toward him. In seconds, she was by his side with Severus followed closely behind her.

"Are you okay, Shuujin-san?"

Shuujin gave her a weak smile. He looked up to Severus and chuckled weakly.

"I should have told you to go easy on me, Suneipu-san. Little did I knew how incredibly powerful you really are... It seems I have underestimated you.

Severus said nothing but offered the man a hand to help him get back up on his feet.

"Shuujin-san, maybe we should head back home and let you have a little rest, at least?"

Ono shook his head. "I am fine, Rurinzu-san. Please do not worry about me. More importantly, I should apologise to you."

"Apologise... to me? Why would you want to do that?"

"Hai. You see, Rurinzu-san, tonight is the night of the full moon. It is a custom that we priests must performed a prayer on every full moon to the Japanese Moon Deity, known as Tsukiyomi-no-mikoto. Hence, I will not be able to train you tonight."

I see.." Claire nodded. "Can we not do it tomorrow night then?"

Ono shook his head again. There is another bad news, Rurinzu-san. The praying ceremony will be on each night for a full week."

W-what?! But that's our-"

"Hai. Indeed Rurinzu-san. Which is why, suneipu-san and I have discussed and we have already came out with a conclusion: you will have to conduct the training alone. I will guide you on what to do, of course. However, the rest will be all up to you. Do you agree with this, Rurinzu-san?"

Claire pondered on it. It didn't take her long to make up her mind. It was now or never.

"Hai. I agree."

"Very good, Rurinzu-san." Ono waves his hands and a white haori, a kimono jacket, and a red Hakama, a type of japanese traditional clothint appeared. He handed it over to her.

"I would like you to get ready, Rurinzu-san. Here is your outfits. Please change behind the waterfall over there."

Claire looked at the outfit she held in her hands before silently nodded.

* * *

 **"ARE** you still not ready yet, Miss Rollins?" Severus' deep voice echoed through the sound of the falling water.

"Coming!"

Claire came out with a gleeful smile. There were pink blushes on her cheeks as she stood before the older man with his arms crossed on his chest.

"What do you think?" She made a full circle for him to see.

For a moment, Severus was at loss of words.

So many words he wished to say to her.

 _Beautiful. Lovely. Oustanding._

None of them however, he braved enough to utter it out loud for her to hear. So instead,

but did not have enough courage to spill it out. Instead, he decided on one safe word.

"Wonderful. You look wonderful, Claire."

Claire smiled grew widened. Together with Severus, she carefully made her way up the wet stoney staircases, to where Ono was waiting.

"Konbanwa, Rurinzu-san."

"Konbanwa, Shuujin-san." Claire bowed her head respectfully.

"Have a seat, Rurinzu-san. Please." Ono urshed her to sit beside him in a _zazen_ posture.

"Before we begin, Rurinzu-san, I would like you to breathe in deeply and clear your mind - away from all the problems you have been kept inside. Say, a certain _koibito_ , for instance?"

Claire looked at him stunningly with her face slowly growing red. Ono on the other hand, had his eyes closed. His face was as calm as the summer's sea.

Silence slowly filled in between them, until Claire decided to end the silence.

"W-What makes you say such things, Shuujin-san? Koibito nonetheless.."

Ono opened one eye and looked at the red faced Muggle with a small smirk.

"Come now, Rurinzu-san. Surely, an attractive young lady as you must have a koibito already? Moreover, I sensed it from you ever since I met you yesterday. Your face looked trouble. Your aura is unbalanced. In order to master the Elementarily magic, Rurinzu-san, you must be able to have a clear head and abe to control your emotions."

Claire nodded silently.

"Oshietekudasai." His voice was gentle.

Claire looked up at him to find that he was looking at her with a warm smile and an understanding look.

Sighed defeatedly, Claire looked at the man with a wearily smile.

"It's complicated."

Ono nodded. He allowed her to continue speaking.

"I'm.. I'm in a complicated relationship..."

Claire began to tell him about her and Lucius' relationship. About Narcissa and when she suddenly showed in their lives after being assumed dead, had caused Claire's world to turn nothing but upside down.

Claire rambled continously how she refused to become a married man's Mistress, and how her doubtfulness had led them to have their first fight before she had left for Japan.

"The more I thought about it, the more I realized that we are totally different people. Not just our background and status or even age, as a matter in fact. We are really quite the opposite. Our last arguement makes me realised how dangerous he could be - being a former Death-Eater. I don't know... I really don't know what to do. I don't want to keep going forward and then back all over again. If there isn't any hope left for Lucius and I, then I would like to end it for once and all.."

Once she finished telling him, Claire expected the Priest would shake his head and with a pitiful smile. Instead, he simply stared at her with a forlorn look in his eyes.

Claire looked away and avoided his gaze. Her knuckles had turned to white. Claire had clenched them tightly as she told him her story earlier.

"'Life is not like water. Things in life don't necessarily flow over the shortest possible route.'" Ono looked at her with a small smile. He pointed at the stream from the waterfall surrounded them. "Japanese famous proverb."

"Rurinzu-san, if you can love someone with your whole heart, even one person, then there's salvation in life. Even if you can't get together with that person."

"Do you perhaps speaking from an experience, Shuujin-san?"

"Hai. Indeed I am." Ono closed his eyes again.

"She had been the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on. A foreigner, like yourself, whose father had worked with the Japanese-Muggle's Embassy. We were neighbours, best friends and lovers, the woman and I. She smelled of the jasmine fragrance whenever she goes. Back in the old days, status differences played a big role in our lives. She was a muggle while I am a Pure-Blood wizard and a samurai bloodline. It was impossible for us to be together, yet we did. That was until my grandfather, who had been the Head of the Family at that time, found out about us. He'd forbidden me to see and to cut all ties with her."

"That's horrible." Claire looked at him pitifully.

"Hai. My grandfather had even threatened to sabotage her family and ended their business if we disobeyed. I had no choice but to leave her.." Ono's voice softened. "Right afterwards, I left my family and met with Guo-sama. It had been him who persuaded me to began my Erementarily training. I have been an Eremental Master since then."

"When was the last you'd heard of her?"

"A couple of years ago. I'd heard she was getting married to a Japanese Businessman."

"I'm very sorry for you, Shuujin-san. Here I am laminating my love problems to you when you had lose yours.."

"Īe, Rurinzu-san. Please do not apologise. What happened to me was already in the past. What matters the most is that I had loved her whole heartedly. Though we had to part, though we could never be together again. We had no regrets. Even if she married another man and had children with him, as long the woman I loved was happy, then I could be happy. And I am. There are love that's worth fighting for, Rorinzu-san, and some not worth the efforts. You simply need to choose your own battle."

Ono gazed at her from the corner of his eyes. He smiled.

"Based from what you had just told me, I personally think it's worth to give a shot. The road of love is a long way and filled with obstacles. However, the heart can't lies what the heart wants You love him. He loves you. What the both of you need right now is to find something in between so that your love may continue to blossom. ' _Yake bokkui-ni-wa hi-ga tsukiyasui.'_ It means, passion of those lovers stopped by fate is easy to return,Rurinzu-san."

Claire took the deep meaningful words he had told her to heart. She took a long deep breath and exhaled.

"You look better than you were minutes ago, Rurinzu-san. That's a good improvement."

Ono raised to his feet. He looked outside; night was approaching. Claire followed but soon stopped by him.

"Rurinzu-san, you are to stay here and meditate under the waterfall."

"For how long?"

"For the whole of tonight."

"What?!"

"Daijobu, daijobu, Rorinzu-san! Suneipu-san and myself will be watching you from outside. Suneipu-san will be around to watch over you when I have to leave for the ceremony. Please, take your seat under the waterfall."

* * *

 **Severus** waited patiently for the Priest to arrive. He had been standing outside for almost half an hour.

As soon as he had taken the young Muggle to climb up the stoned staircases, Severus had been asked to leave them alone for a short while by the kind Priest so that he may have 'the talk' with the Muggle.

Severus had known about it. Ono had talked to him and had asked for Severus' permission.

A moment later, Ono arrived.

"Suneipu-san, Rurinzu-san has finally settle."

"Good."

"Are you sure you want to stay here and watch? Things might get nasty. The Kappa is not known to be gentle creatures after all."

"I'll stay. It at least gives me a peaceful mind to know how she's doing."

"You are a kind man, Suneipu-san. For helping out Rurinzu-san."

Severus grunted. He focused on the Muggle woman sitting on a stone, in a Zazen posture, underneath the waterfall.

"It will be a while before the Kappa arrive. In the meanwhile, you should get something to eat first, Suneipu-san. Dinner should be ready by now."

* * *

 **Itadakimasu - bon appetite**

 **Koibito - lover/darling**

 **Gurēto gurando masutā - Great Grand Master**

 **Watashi no naka de shinkō o motte kudasai - Please have faith in me.**

 **Oshietekudasai - Please tell me**

 **Daijoubu- it's alright/ it's fine**

 **Īe- No**

 **Disclaimed: All of the japanese proverbs belongs to the Haruki Murakami and Tatara from the Fushigi Yuugi manga/anime. I owned nothing but the characters Claire and Ono Shuugin and this story.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Shoutout to:**

 **BeraniandSeverus4eva** **: Yahooo! You're very welcome! :D Haha, lemme ponder about that idea for a bit. Right now, I'm still in the process of finding a good plot and setting for the new story but it's definitely going to be a SeverusxOc! Say, college life for a change? Because, lets face it, high school plot is SOO overated. At least to me xD**

 **Notwritten: Hey there! Hope you have a good year ahead of ya! Keep on smiling too! ^^**

 **A/N: All right people! For this chapter and the next, we will be focusing on our girl! It's time for her to finally get some real action. Don't worry, I won't be dragging this scene for too long. It might end at the end of the next chapter before we can move on to the other characters' scenes. :D**

 **Overall, please enjoy and leave feedbacks!**

 **P/S: sorry for the short chapter. Will make it up to you the next one! :P**

* * *

 **Chapter 25 First Trial: The Black Warrior**

 **BY** the time Claire realised what the time was, it was already late midnight. She cracked her stiffed neck to left and right. Her legs were already numb down to the toes.

Claire slowly opening her eyes to the clear and glorious full moon above her. She blinked for a few times, with drops from the waterfall still crushing down on her. The water wasn't as cold as she'd previously expected. It was merely tolerable.

Claire shivered and sneezed as cold wind blew at her. Her stomach began to growl loudly; Claire had just realised she didn't had anything to eat since lunch.

 _Focus, Rollins!_ Her mind argued. _Keep your mind clear! Come on. You can do it, girl!_

It had been hard for her to concentrate on meditatation without her mind wandering on as it pleased. As soon as Ono had left her all alone, her mind kept wandering to his wise, deep and meaningful words. From there, her mind wandered to the people she had left behind in England, to her complicated relationship and finally, to Lucius Malfoy.

 _No! Get him out of your mind right this instant, Claire Rollins! You're much better than this. Now breathe in deeply,and focus._

Claire inhaled and exhaled. She did it for a few times, trying hard to push all thoughts away and make her mind as blank as an empty canvas.

Unknown to Claire, six pairs of eyes were watching her from afar, from the depth of the water. They muttered faintly in their own language before they moved.

Claire breathe in and out calmly and steadily. She had managed to keep her head cleared from all thoughts and only focused on her breathing when she heard a sharp faintly sound coming from her surrounding.

Slowly and hesitatingly, she opened her eyes. To her extreme shock, she came face to face with a group of creepy, scaled-covered monkeys with webbed hands and a water-filled depression atop its head.

"Oh my..." The kappas shrieked and started attacking and strangling her before she could finished her sentences.

The Kappas continuously assaulting Claire who was having a hard time getting them off her, from the wet rocky ground. They bit her skin, pulled her outfit and even strangled her. Blood were soaking through her already wet haori as Claire tried to fend them off by punching them as hard as she could.

Claire could feel her heart pumping from the adreline rush. When Claire finally managed to get the Kappas off her, she tried to run away - but failed when one of the Kappas who were on the ground caught her leg and caused her to stumble down.

Not giving up, Claire crawled her way to the exit, all the while trying to loosen her leg from the Kappas who began to drag her back to the ledge stone she had sat on earlier - down and into the pool below where many Kappas had already gathered and waiting excitingly to kill her.

"You got to be _fuckin_ kidding me!" With one full swing, the Kappas managed to pull her closer to the ledge.

"Shit!" Claire held on fought with every strength that she had to not let them drag her down to the ledge and into her ultimate death.

"Must...Not..Let them take me.." She felt her hands slipping from the ledge as more Kappas began to glue to her body. Their body weights were pulling her down.

Claire's fingers slowly losing their grips on the ledge.

As her pointed finger lose its touch against the ledge, the Kappas began dragging her down into the depth pool of the waterfall where her demise await.

* * *

 **Somewhere** hidden down below at the bushes, Severus Snape watched with widened eyes as the Kappas had pulled Rollins from the stoned ledge down to the pool where the rest of inticipating Kappas awaited her.

He barely breathing.

"It can't be..." he finally spoke after a moment. "It's.. impossible. She can't possibly be _dead!"_ He nearly screamed out at the last word.

Severus dared himself to moved foward from his hidden spot, not caring if the Kappas did spot him. His feet moved faster until he reached closer to the stream and stopped.

Severus had many thoughts running through his mind as he prepared himself for bad sceneries of what he might found while making his way over.

None of which had prepared him an icy stream along with frozen kappas.

Severus breathed in relief. At the very least; she was still alive. Though, where on Earth was Miss Rollins?

* * *

 **CLAIRE** coughed loudly and water sputtered from her mouth, the last excesses of the water from the stream that entered her body while she was being pulled down to the pool by the Kappas earlier. She panted and rest her head against the familiar grassy ground, looking at the moon still shining ever so brightly.

Everything had happened in a flash. One moment she was screaming and the next, she felt icy cold coming from her fingertips. Before long, the ice began to engulf everything her hands touched.

Claire stayed on the ground for a short while before forcing herself to get up.

 _"Ouch!"_ Claire winched at the pain on her body. She looked at herself on the now icy pool; she looked absolutely horrible.

Her hair was in great mess, her face was paled and her white haori were being ripped apart. Ugly bruishes and cuts from the Kappas' assaults on some parts of her body had began to show.

Claire sighed wearily. Maybe she should head back to the Shrine and told Shuujin-san what happened. But where exactly was she?

Claire looked around her. The forest that had looked peaceful in the day suddenly looked so haunting at night. She felt as if the trees had eyes and they were watching her every moves. Shivering harder as the cold wind blew at her direction, with her body soaked wet, Claire hurriedly made her way out of the forest when all the sudden, the ground started to shake.

"Who dares to stumble upon _MY_ territory?" A groucy and roarful voice echoed throughout the forest.

Claire unintentionally let out a squeal at the mighty voice. Soon afterwards, a strong blizzard suddenly being cast at her direction, frozen everything in its path; Claire included.

The blizzard calmed down as quickly as it came. A huge gigantic shadow hidden amongst the tall trees, stepped out of its shadow - a green/brown tortoise with a snake coiling around it's body, appeared before her.

"A mortal child," Genbu, the mystical creature, moved swiftly around the frozen Claire. "Dared to treepassing my territory? Tell me child, why have you come here? What do you seek?"

Genbu's golden eyes glowed as it cast at her direction. It was using a Legilemency spell on her.

Claire's body was freeze from top to bottom. She had her eyes shut tightly, and hugged herself in protection before being completely frozen. Yet, even in this state, she could clearly heard what was being said by the creature.

She felt like thousands of needles were stabbing on her skin as the cold temperature kept on increasing by each seconds.

"So you seek to find a way to control your elementarily powers, do you?" Claire couldn't respond yes even if she wanted to.

"Well then, let's see just how well you fend off the power of Genbu!" Genbu opened its mouths again and another blizzard fell on Claire, making the ice covered her body doubled the layers.

"You have few minutes before your whole system being completely freeze, Elemantalist. A true Elementalist should be able to endure it until the very end!"

* * *

 _ **I**_ _can't...Breathe. Is this the way..I'm going to die..?_

Claire barely could feel her feet, let alone her body. She could barely moved a muscle.

"Claire.." A gentle female voice whispered in her ears. She felt someone was stroking her cheek very softly.

"Claire honey, wake up. Open your eyes."

Claire slowly opening her eyes. To her surprise, there was no signs of the Genbu or her being in the forest whatsoever! Instead, Claire found herself laying on a cold ground in a mysterious place covered with thick white mist.

Four familiar looking figures stood before her and greeted her with a smile; two of them whom she knew very well and missed greatly while the other two were people whom Claire had never gotten the chance to know about them before they passed away.

"Mum...Dad..."

Claire's parents stepped forward into the mist. Her adoptive mother opened up her arms before pulling her into a big hug.

"I missed you so much, my dear Claire."

"M-Mum?" Her eyes wandered from the woman who was hugging her to the woman standing beside her, wiping away her tears rolling down on her cheeks.

"We couldn't be more happier to know how well you've grown. We are so proud of what a fine young woman you've become, dear child." Her biological mother, Sophia, spoke gently before giving her a kiss on her forehead.

Claire was then, handed over to the two men.

"Dad!" She jumped into her adoptive father's arms and hugged him tightly.

"Haha! Heyya there, sport. It's so nice to be able to see you again for the last time..." Her father tightened his wrapped around her. "I miss you."

"I miss you too, dad..." Claire sobbed.

After a moment, Claire was handed over to the other man. She couldn't speak at all. Claire didn't need to. Because as soon as she was handed over to him by her adoptive father, the man instantly embraced and planted kisses on her forehead repeatively.

"My precious baby.. My sweet Claire.." Glittering tears were evidencely in his eye as he smiled widely. "I am so sorry we weren't be able to be there for you, watching you growing up. You are our treasure, Claire. Our priceless treasure. We will always be watching over you. So do not give up. Never give up."

"Dad.."

"It's time, Edward."

Edward nodded and released her from his embrace.

"It's time to go, Princess. Don't worry. We'll help you." He smiled and wiped the tear rolling down her cheek.

Claire's parents each took their place and surrounded her. They lifted their hands in the air and toward her.

"We love you so much." Were the last words Claire heard from her adoptive mother before a surge of heat crawled onto her skin.

* * *

 **The** first layers of the ice broke and scattered to tiny crystal pieces.

"What?" Genbu looked astonishing at the scene.

Only one icy layer of was left for Claire to break.

* * *

 **When** Claire opened her, she found herself yet once again at the mysterious place covered in white mist. However unlike before, she could feel heat slowly emitting from her body.

There were no signs of her parents this time around either.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

No answered.

Claire was about to move her cold feet forward, when she smelled it: the scent of fresh Citrus, old books and chocolates filled on the air.

Claire had smelled them before, constantly even.

Inhaled deeply, she remembered it was the smell of home: of the three grown men in her life.

Opening her eyes to the newfound scent, Claire found herself missing home more than ever. She missed Lucius, Severus, Wonka,Draco, the Golden Trio, Ginny, Luna, and even Rita Skeeter's strong and horrible choice of fragrance! She missed everyone.

 _I can't lose. Not like this! I have people waiting for me back home. People who put a lot of efforts into this mission. People whom I care about!_

"I won't give in!"

The ice layers on her body began to crack. Claire struggled to move her muscles.

"I...Won't...Give..UP!" Her eyes suddenly changed to crimson. At the same time, fire bursted from her fingertips and surrounded her body, thus; melting the ice.

As soon as the ice melted, Claire fell on the ground, breathing heavily. Smokes were coming out from her body. She felt her skin burning from the heat rush from before.

Claire was feeling very exhausted she felt her body began to slowly shut down.

"Very impressive, Elementalist." Genbu's deep voice greeted her. "You've managed to successfully achieve no other Elementalist had ever done before; summoning Hell's Fire and also, defeating my Ice Prison with only the power of your strong wills and desire."

"My...will powers?"

Genbu nodded. "The will power of not giving up and the burning desire to live and to be able to see your loved ones again - those two had enable you to successfully used the Fire Element, and thus, summoned Hell's Fire."

Claire, still shakened by her new found power, merely mutely nodded.

"For passing this trial, let me reward you with something that may be able to help you with your next task." Genbu summoned a ring with a small Aquamarine and Ruby gems atop of it and handed it over to her.

Claire looked astonishingly at the given ring in her hand.

"The ring shall allows you to be able to control your powers from overflowing and allow you to summon us."

"Understood." Claire bowed her head. "Thank you so mucn for giving me this, Genbu-sama."

"Here." Genbu summoned few berries and handed it to her. "Consume them. It will helps you to regain back your strengths which you have lose and also, prepare you for your next trial."

Claire hesitatingly accepted the berries, before she ate one. As soon as she tasted the wonderful heavenly taste of the berries, Claire consumed it like there was no tomorrow.

"Eat, child. Your next trial will begin as soon as you walked into the clearance." Genbu pointed out at the clearance a few feet away from where she was.

Claire stood up. She brushed the leftover berries stained on her mouth with the back of her hand, feeling more energised and confidence than before standing up.

She looked at her attire, it looked far worse than before, but somehow Claire didn't mind it at all.

Looking at the clearance ahead, Claire turned and was about to bow to Genbu again when she stopped.

The Mystical beast God had dissappeared.

Claire bowed nevertheless. "Thank you, Genbu-sama."

And then made her way carefully to the clearance where her next trial was.


	26. Chapter 26

**Author's Notes;**

 **OMG it has been very long time since I've stopped writing this story! To be honest, I was having a bit of writer's block on writing this story and was busy focusing on my other story, ' The Professor and The Bodyguard'... but at long last you readers gave me enough courage to continue writing this chapter! Claps for everyone! :D**

 **Notwritten : Thanks again for dropping by! I'm glad you liked the last chapter and apologised for keep you hanging for the next chapter for so long! **

**RoselleIcedTears : Dearies, words can't expressed how happy your comment made me as an individual and a writer. I thanked the two of you from the bottom of my heart and again, let me apologised for leaving this story hanging for a while. I will resumed to it and together, we shall see this till the end. ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 26: Second Trial: Red Temptress**

 **THE** night carried on as Claire made her way out of the clearance where she just had her first battle with one of the Four Legendary Gods, Genbu. Now fully recovered and with an Elemental ring to help her, she was ready to take on the next challenge.

It didn't take her long to wait for her challenger to arrive, because the moment Claire stepped out of the entrance, she heard a lighthearted hums in the woods.

Claire stood still, her guard increased and her eyes frequently searched for something, anything at all.

The humming grew louder like an alarming siren. Claire had both her ears covered with her hands. Her teeth gritted and knees buckled into they fell to the ground.

The humming continously for a while before it abruptly stopped. Silence once again fill in the air. Claire slowly removed her hands from her ears and put them by her side.

"Hello there, _dearie._ " A soft female voice suddenly whispered close to her left ear.

Claire flinched and quickly turned to look at the thing that was standing behind her. She took a couple of steps back.

It was a gigantic bird with feathers in many different hues of vermilion.

When and how did it get there behind her without her noticed? Claire was too stunned to answer that question.

The Vermillion Bird, known as Suzaku in Japan, chuckled softly at the unattractive way Claire had gawked at it. It lowered it's head graciously in 's voice was sultry when it spoke, "I see you've managed to defeat my brother, Genbu. How impressive. For a mere human to defeat a God is impressive indeed. Tell me, your reason for coming to my lair, human?"

Claire gulped and answered it as calmly as she could. "I need to learn how to master the Elemental powers..."

"And why is that?"

"To protect the ones I loved from the people who are planning to hurt them. The people who are planning to hurt my loved ones are Elemantalists. Normal magic won't work on them. That's why, I need to learn how to control my Elements. Please, would you help me?"

Suzaku stared down at her, saying nothing. It's dark red eyes pierced deep into Claire's soul - determined whether what the mortal said was the truth or lies. Finally, it spoke after a moment of silence.

"You are speaking the truth. However, I shall be the one to judge of that."

It flew above Claire's head and landed across the field. Opening it's beautiful wings, Suzaku said, "Let's see if you have what it takes to defeat me and my Prisons!"

* * *

Flapping it wings, Suzaku shrieked as mighty gale began to attack Claire. The young muggle braced herself for the strong wind, not knowing that while she was distracted by the wind, a small cage came out from the ground and trapped her inside!

 _"What?!_ "

Suzaku summoned fire to surround the cage. She giggled delightfully at Claire's horrifying expression. "What's wrong, mortal? Can't stand the heat?"

Claire gritted her teeth. She was sweating profusely from the heat. The only that prevent the fire from burning her immediately because in her panicked moment, the muggle had automatically cast layers of ice shield to her surroundings. It might not helped her much in long run, but it sure helped her a lot in preventing the heat from touching her skin.

"Fool. My fire will melt your Ice in seconds!" To prove it's point, Suzaku increased the heat, causing the flame around Claire to dance wildly.

Meanwhile, Claire was having a hard time trying to breathe. She felt like tearing her clothes off but knew even doing so wouldn't ease the heat.

Looking at the Elemental ring around her finger, Claire lifted one shaky hand in the air and tried to summon the Beastly God, Genbu.

Strong blizzard came out of nowhere, freeze everything standing in it's path. It immensely freeze the flamed cage, and there was a thick icy barrier surrounded Claire. However, even with Genbu's power, Suzaku's mighty flame could still easily melted the barriers.

"Give it up, mortal. It's no use. My fire is no match against any form of ice. Not even my brother's power could win against me!"

 _Damn. How on earth do I defeat this creature who breathes fire?_ Claire pondered. She watched as her icy barrier started to melt. It won't be long before it melted completely and she would be burning in flame.

Panic started to rumble her inside but Claire refused to give in. Closing her eyes, she tried to relax her mind to think of a way out of this challenge.

 _"Elementalist."_ Claire heard a deep grumbled voice calling to her: Genbu.

"Elementalist, what are you afraid of?"

Claire frowned at the question but still her eyes remained shut.

"I'm not afraid."

"You are. What are you afraid of?"

I'm-"

"Of the flames that might consume you?" Genbu chuckled deeply. "Don't be. You have the Power of Genbu. Embrace it. Embrace what has been giving to you..."

Claire suddenly felt extremely cold as ice slowly began to cover her. It started from the tips of her fingers followed by her arms and later her whole body was frozen by a thick block of ice.

 _Believe._ She heard Genbu's last word to her before cold and numbness taken over her.

* * *

Suzaku who had been watching the whole scene, sneered.

"Foolish mortal. You're only choosing your own death by freezing yourself! No matter." It flapped it's wings to increase the heating temperature. Fire around the cage burnt hungrily and quickly melting the thick ice around it.

"We'll end this here and now!"

Instead of flapping it's wings again, this time, the vermillion bird burnt itself with its own flame before transformed into a gigantic arrow - shape.

Taking its aim to Claire's heart, Suzaku launched itself toward her and prepared to consume her whole once and for all.

Little did it knew, as soon as it touched the tip of the ice block, immediately, Suzaku's fire began to frost.

"What?!" Suzaku heated itself with its mighty fire. Unfortunately the more it heated up, the quicker it surrounded by ice.

"Thou arrogance shalt not underestimate the Power of Genbu, dear Suzaku." Genbu's voice echoed throughout the forest. The ground, the cage, and the forest began to freeze as well.

"Genbu!" Suzaku's panicked voice began to shrill. Still, it refused to give up. Suzaku returned to its former true form and flew above Claire who was still frozen and being protected by Genbu.

Half of its beautiful feathers were being coated with the deadly ice.

"Brother, you're giving up your power to help this mortal? Why?" It hissed.

"Dear sister, Thou shalt not refused what Thou eyes can see. This mortal has fairly won the battle against me. Thus, offering my services to her is what I shalt do. Defeating you is a must."

"Ha! You're getting soft, brother! We are the mighty Gods! We do no heed from the humans! No matter. Since you have decided that, it will be my honour to end this battle for you." Suzaku circled itself in a fast pace until it became a gigantic frosty fireball.

"This is for you, my dear brother!" With a final swing, it launched itself again at Claire; readily to sacrifice itself if it takes to win this battle.

Genbu looked up as Suzaku came toward them in fast pace and opened its mouth and howled toward the Heavens.

"Elementalist,now!" Genbu's voice drilled inside Claire's head. Opening her eyes to deep frosty blue as Suzaku came close in contact, Claire muttered:

"Genbu: Gungnir."

As soon as words came out of her mouth, Suzaku was trapped in the tips of a gigantic Lance, and launched it upwards toward the Heavens.

* * *

Severus watched in amazed as the battle had come to the end. He had cast a protective magical barrier around him to avoid getting hit by any of them magic and was hiding amongst the many bushes, watching in great tension at the commenced battle.

He had grown worried at one time when Claire got herself trapped in the cage of fire. But as soon as she summoned Genbu, Severus worries ceased. And now, he was mostly amazed at the vast power that she had achieved in a short amount of time.

"It's over." He heard Genbu's echoing voice loud and clear.

Looking at where Claire was, his eyes immediately found her sinking her knees to the ground as the block of ice around her began to hurriedly melted.

* * *

Claire blinked her eyes rapidly. Her cheeks were red while her skin was paled. She warmed helself to get rid of the cold. The tips of her fingers glowed in warm heat.

At last, Suzaku's voice could be heard echoing through the woods.

"I'm surprised..." It flew above her before gracefully landed in front of her. "Indeed I was. Never before had I thought of being defeated by a mere mortal such as yourself. Well done, Elemantalist. I, Suzaku, admit defeated."

"Suzaku-sama..."

Suzaku bowed it's head at her. "Raise your left hand, Elemantalist." Obeying it's words, Claire lifted her hand and immediately she felt a surge of new power being added into the Elemental ring.

The power of Suzaku.

"You will also need this." The mighty God summoned a red cloak. "It is made from fire that will surely protect you agaisnt any elements."

Claire put the cloak around her and it hugged her like a second- skin.

"Your next challenge awaits you, child. Good luck." With that it disappeared in gust of flame. Once again, Claire found herself alone in the woods and getting stronger with each challenges.

She made her way out of he woods and into the riverbank.


	27. Chapter 27

**Shoutouts to:**

 **notwritten** **: ** Hello! Thank you for dropping by yet once again. Keep smiling too and enjoy reading ;D

 **Berani Lily Deeks** **:** *Evil laugh* Well, what can I say? I am the Mistress of cliffhangers XD Hope you enjoy this one! Will be posting 'The Professor and The Bodyguard' new chapter soon!

 **Old age pensione** **:** Hello there! Thanks for dropping by and leaving a very kind review.:) I'm very flattened. I hope you will enjoy reading this chapter!

* * *

 **Chapter 27** **: Double Trouble**

 **IF** Claire thought dealing with Suzaku had been a great pain in her arse, her next challenger proved her wrong immediately. Walking at the riverbank warily with steady steps, all the while keeping her senses alert for anything, Claire was slightly surprised when she felt drops of water fell on her skin. Rain? She was positive she didn't recall seeing any grey clouds in the skies before. Then again, it was hard for her to see anything else other than the tall trees in the forest.

Claire stopped on her track and looked up.

To her great horror, it wasn't the rain that was pouring down on her, but a bloody tidal wave coming out of nowhere and was heading toward her!

"Holy _fucking_ SHITE!" Claire ran aimlessly like a madwoman.

As she ran as fast as she could, all the suddenly, her left foot got tripped by a tree's roots, causing her to stumble and carelessly fell on top of bushes filled with red roses. He knees and arms got scraped by the thorns.

Cringing at the pain, Claire forced herself to get up and continued to run when she saw the tsunami shadow was getting closer to her. It was nearly impossible to overrun it now. Instead of running, Claire raised her hands in the air. Her eyes immediately changed its colour to deep frosty blue.

"Genbu: Freeze!"

Blizzard came instantly and frozen the deadly wave just as it was about to crash down onto her. The ice spikes nearly hit her head.

Choking on her breath, Claire took a couple steps back. She breathed in and out deeply, one hand resting on her rapidly beating heart.

 _That was close... Too close!_ Claire mused, wiping the sweats on her forehead.

She didn't have the time to catch her next breath when something was thrown at her direction; a fucking tree!

Raising her hand again, her eyes changed colour from frosty blue to bright crimson, Claire cried, "Suzaku: Flame Burst!"

Raging fire came out from her Element Ring and headed toward the falling tree. The flame consumed the tree and burned it to ashes.

Claire panted and groaned for the pains from the injuries she suffered on her arms and knees. She keep a close watch on her surroundings. The tree was not a mistake. Her next challenger was here and eagerly tasting her new-found abilities.

"Amusing." A deep grouchy voice surrounded her.

Claire scowled. The voice came from the direction of the lake...

Her eyes grew widened as the ground began to shake tremendously. Claire dodged on the ground, taking cover and protecting her head.

Something big was rising from the lake! A large azure Dragon emerges slowly and spirally from the river to the sky. A pair of blue glowing eyes stared down at Claire, hissing at her.

"A mortal dared to step into the lairs of the Beastly Gods?" It whipped its head around, looking not at her, but behind her. "I see you have brought along companies as well."

 _"Seiryuu._ My dear brother, I see you haven't changed a bit since the last time we'd battled." Suzaku's voice echoed. Red light shone from Claire's ring as it manifested to its original form, and circled around the Azure dragon's head before making a prefect graceful landing behind Claire.

"It has been a while, brother." Genbu said coolly. It too had manifested to it's original form.

"Suzaku, I'm surprise a proud _temptress_ such as yourself would allowed this mortal gets the best of you. How disgraceful and pathetic."

"We'd fought fair and square, dear Seiryuu. Mortal as she may be, she is a force to be reckon with."

"That still doesn't gives you an excuse for losing to a mere mortal." Seiryuu retorted.

"Why you vile creature! I shall burn you to ashes!" Suzaku readily taking its stance, flapping its beautiful wings in the air when Genbu stepped in between them.

"You shall be wise to put any of your differences aside as now, Seiryuu and Suzaku. Right now, our main concern is the mortal." Genbu tilted its head toward Claire.

Seiryuu kept his hard gaze on Claire. After a moment, he exhaled deeply and arrogantly said, "I refuse."

"You mustn't break the rules, Seiryuu." said Genbu firmly. "Abe no Seimei won't be happy if you refuse to obey his rules."

"This mortal is unworthy of Seimei-sama's powers! I refuse to aid it!"

"You're not the one to decide, Seiryuu!" Suzaku hissed.

"Indeed." A foreign voice interfered. The ground shook again as a white tiger beast with golden eyes emerged from the forest. It roared could be heard loudly throughout the forest.

 _"Byakko!"_ Suzaku shrieked in shock at the appearance of their other brother. To it's left, Genbu had taken a more protective position by shielding Claire using its body. Despite the protection Suzaku had provided her by giving her the cloak, they all knew Byakko was the fastest.

While the conversation between the other Gods were still ongoing, Genbu decided to momentarily put its focus on elsewhere.

' _Elementalist.'_ said Genbu, telepathically. _'Be prepare for an incoming battle. Do you see that long branch on your right? Take it.'_

Claire looked at the beast and mutely did as she was told. The long branch was smooth, dried and in a perfect condition.

' _What now?'_ Claire mentally asked.

' _Put your hand over it, Elementalist.'_

Claire nodded. Putting her hands over the branch, she summoned, "Genbu: Sword."

Ice immediately began to cover the long branch and shaped into a beautiful icy sword. Claire watched the quick transformation in awed.

Looking up, she saw Genbu nodded its head to her, approvingly. It then returned it gaze back to the others who seemed to been in hear debate.

* * *

Suzaku flapped its wings angrily. "You too dared to defy Seimei-sama, Byakko?"

"Only a worthy one is able to withstand Seimei-sama's powers. This mortal does not possesses such strength. It may have defeated the two of you. However, I'm doubtful it could defeat us."

"Very well. Let us see if the mortal truly has what it takes to defeats the two of you to be an Elementalist." Genbu disappeared and returned to the ring. Suzaku did the same.

Standing alone now facing not one but two Mythology Gods, Claire prepared herself for the battle. Lifting her ice sword, she heard Suzaku's voice whispering into her ears and nodded.

Putting one hand over the blade, she muttered, "Suzaku: Fury."

Fire began to wrapped around the icy sword, not at the very least, melting it. Turning her full attention to the two Gods, Claire took a fighting stance.

"You will regret for not pulling away when you had the chance, mortal." Seiryuu mockingly said. Summoning the water from the lake, Seiryuu launched multiple water cannons toward her.

Claire blocked, dodged and cut few of the cannons with her sword. Moving forward, she ran as fast as she could, while keeping keen eyes on the other God. Speaking of which, where is Byak-

A loud roar coming from her behind. Claire barely had the time to turn around and defence when sharp claws reached out and managed to land a long mean scratch on her right back, tearing the cloak she wore on her body like a second skin apart.

Claire fought off the pain and thrust her sword at Byakko, hoping it might hit the Beast somewhere in its internal organs.

Too late.

Before Claire realised what was happening, she felt a strong force knocked her out to the side － _Seiryuu._ It had hit her with one of the cannon when Claire had been too focused on Byakko.

Gasping from gotten hit, Claire quickly inspected herself; there were no wounds on her body － the cloak that Suzaku had given her did its job, protecting her from any elements. Thought it did hurt like hell.

Coming to her sense again, Claire prepared herself for yet another attack from Byakko. The white tiger charged at her in quick speed. Rising one hand in the air, Claire eyes turned crimson.

"Suzaku: Explosion." Fireballs appeared from the sky and dropped onto Byakko, creating massive explosion upon impact with the ground.

The white tiger howled angrily once the explosions disappeared. Rising its head, it howled to the Heavens and summoned his deadly spell to end this fight once and for all: cyclone. While Byakko was summoning the cyclone, Seiryuu too was summoning a tidal wave.

* * *

 _Shit shit shit!_ Claire gritted her teeth. Her grip on the sword increased despite the already white knuckles. Even with the Powers of Genbu and Suzaku, she doubt it would be enough to take the two nature disasters down.

Fears were evidently in her face, but she was determined to hold her ground. She couldn't die here. Not here and definitely not now! Not when she was so close to completing her mission and when she had people looking forward for her return!

Looking above, Claire could see the sun slowly began to rise. Morning would be arriving soon.

Claire breathed in and out deeply.

 _It's now or never._

Though she may die. Though she may lose everyone who loved her and never failed to come back to them, Claire was determined to see everything through.

Closing her eyes and then reopened them, her eyes changed from deep crimson to pale violet. Taking a deep breath, Claire summoned, "Suzaku: Flight."

A pair of pale red wings appeared behind her. Testing the wings on her back, Claire fluttered forward, with blade pointed forward.

Saying a silent pray and goodbye to those who she knew and loved, Claire dived in.

* * *

" **WHAT** is she thinking?" Severus Snape watched with great disbelief. Had she finally gone mad? No human, let alone wizards or witches would be dumbed enough to challenge Mother Nature, and here she was, dashing toward it!

Severus stepped outside of his hiding, rising his wand, and about to cast 'Stupefy' at the Muggle when he was stopped.

"I'm afraid that will not do, Suneipu-san." Snape slowly turned his body around and met with the calm and serene Monk with his wand against his back.

"Please, Suneipu-san. Let down your wand."

Snape reluctantly obeyed his command. Dropping his wand to the ground, he turned his back at the other man. With his jaws tensed, he painfully returned his sight back to the muggle.

"It will be all right, Suneipu-san. Have faith in her." Were the last words Snape heard before he was deaf by the loud sound of wave and cyclone crashing down.

* * *

Claire cried at the top of her lungs with her ice sword at the front, protecting her, as the tidal wave and cyclone hungrily consumed her.

It ended as soon as it started.

Severus watched with a broken heart as Mother Nature consumed his friend.

 _No... It can't be... It can't be!_

He started moving forward, not caring what the monk had said. Nor did he cared if the Mythology Gods saw him.

He walked a few steps toward where Claire had just been floating, when he stopped. Eyes widened, he looked at the ground he been stepping on.

Snape gasped. The whole ground was frozen. Looking up, he realised, partly the whole jungle was being frozen. His eyes wandered from his surroundings, to a single figure lying on the ground, surrounded by the four Mystical Gods.

"CLAIRE!" In seconds, Snape was by her side. Ignoring the Gods, he had her cradling in his arms.

"Miss Claire?" Snape gently slapped her paled white cheeks with blue lips, attempting to wake her up.

" _Claire!"_ He called her name repeatedly.

Each name that he called, his voice betrayed the grief and sadness he felt of losing her. Of him failing to save yet one of the women who entered his life whom he cherished with all his heart.

"It appears this one has proven to be a worthy one." Byakko said, after a short while of silence.

Snape lifted his head with a questioning look.

Byakko turned its back at him, showing off a healing long scar from its right shoulder all the way to its back. "A foolish stubborn mortal, this one."

Seiryuu sighed deeply. "I shall admit defeat. Though it never occur to me that this _Elementalist_ would go as far as risking its own life to defeat us. How foolish!"

Suzaku hovered over Claire who was still lying unconsciously in Snape's arms. "Do not worry. The Elementalist is currently asleep until it has recovers." It assured Snape gently. The fiery bird then breathed a magical air at the unconscious Muggle, causing her skin and lips to return to normal.

Snape, still holding Claire tight in his arms, refused to let go despite her improved condition. He eyed the Gods warily. But before he could speak and asked them questions, Shuujin came forward, clapping softly with a bright smile on his face.

He bowed his head respectfully at the Heavenly Beings, and then lifted his head.

"Genbu-sama,Byakko-sama,Suzaku-sama, and finally, Seiryuu-sama. It has been a long time since we've last met, is it not?"

"You are Seimei-sama's Apprentice, are you not?" Genbu spoke.

Shuujin nodded. "Hai. He sent his regards. He hasn't been feeling well lately, and therefore, could not be here. He sent me over as his representative, instead. I hope you don't mind. He told me everything has already been explained."

"Seimei-sama isn't getting younger. His health has gotten worsen." Suzaku chirped sadly.

"Indeed, Suzaku-sama. Which is why, Rorinzu-sama's presence is significant. In fact, Seimei-sama himself is considering taking her as his successor. Rorinzu-sama's parent had been after all, his apprentices. The combination between two powerful Elementalists is not something to be taken lightly for. Which is why Seimei-sama had set up this course of training so that she may unleash her full potential."

Shuujin turned to look at Snape who was getting even confused than before. "I shall explain everything to you once we get back to the shrine, Suneipu-san. But for now, I believe we should let Rorinzu-sama relax for a while."

Snape mutely nodded. Carefully gotten to his feet, he carried Claire in a bridal style in his arms.

Shuujin turned to the Gods and bowed his head respectfully again for the last time. "Until we meet again. Arigatogozaimasu,Genbu-sama, Byakko-sama, Suzaku-sama and not forgotten, Seiryuu-sama."

The Four Gods returned his bow before they vanished in the thin air.

"Where did they go?" Snape asked.

"Heaven." Shuujin showed him the Elemental Ring on Claire's finger. "With this, she has now completed her training. Once Rorinzu-sama has awaken, I shall properly spar with her. But for now..."

Instead of leading the way, as Snape had expected him to, Shuujin gently held on to Claire's hand and apparated them back to the Shrine.


End file.
